On Friday 31 January the New Zealand Union of Students’ Association (NZUSA) will be commemorating the ‘sweet $16 billion’ of student debt in Aotearoa from 1pm outside the electorate office of the Finance Minister Grant Robertson.
The commemoration will involve people sharing the impact their own debt will have (or has had) on their future and will include a cutting of the ‘sweet $16 billion’ cake.
“The commemoration of the sweet $16 billion of student loan debt in Aotearoa leaves a sour taste in the lives of students and recent graduates who are burdened by their student loan debt. Student loan debt deters prospective students from undertaking tertiary study and prevents graduates being able to advance their careers overseas or buy a house” says NZUSA President Isabella Lenihan-Ikin.
“Young people face an increasing need to become educated at a higher level. Older people are facing increasingly precarious work and are being pressured to upskill. Tertiary education is no longer the educational extra for the wealthy and academically inclined”.
“Student debt is held by the young and old and is a problem that last long after they enter the workforce. Debt doesn’t just affect University students over their three-year degree. It affects students studying in polytechs and industry training providers, it affects graduates, academics, businesspeople, teachers, doctors and builders”.
President of Tauira Pasifika Ali Leota says “within our Pacific community I am seeing the very impact of the barrier that student loan debt has on people wanting to upskill and high school leavers. To ensure that tertiary education is equitable, we must remove the cost barriers that prevents us from achieving and serving our communities.”
