Te Hautลซ Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union welcomes todayโs announcement of additional funding for tertiary education as a victory for the union members who campaigned hard for the government to step in.
Minister of Education Jan Tinetti has announced a $128 million package for the tertiary sector, including Te Pลซkenga and wฤnanga, however it remains unclear if this will be enough to stop the cuts currently proposed across the sector. The government also signalled that a review of tertiary education funding will take place.
Tumu Whakarae | National President Dr Julie Douglas says the governmentโs decision has come โbetter late than never. Weโve been telling successive governments for over a decade that our members are at breaking point and something had to give. We are cautiously optimistic that this will be enough to stop the cuts but given it is not targeted at the institutions that are struggling the most, we are concerned the money may be spread too thin.โ
โThe staff of our sector have watched colleagues walk away to other jobs and/or countries, they have seen the quality of education diminished, they have survived previous rounds of staff cuts and they have struggled under intense workloads all due to a lack of funding where itโs needed most.โ
โItโs a testament to their resilience, persistence and campaigning strength that they have won this victory, but the mahi doesnโt end here. We now need to ensure that this money will be used by the Vice Chancellors to stop the cuts. And we need to come together as a sector to work on a long-term fix.โ
โThe funding model is still not working, workloads are still unmanageable and university salary growth is still lagging a long way behind inflation, overseas institutions, and some industries that our universities draw staff from.โ
โWhile we congratulate the government for making a good call today, a lot of significant challenges remain.โ