โIt is unacceptable that struggling students canโt eat and pay their rent because they canโt access their student loan or allowance,โ said Labourโs tertiary spokesperson Shanan Halbert.
โWith unemployment rapidly increasing, Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Universities Shane Reti both should have known that enrolments would increase but failed to ensure that support systems were in place.
โStudents are now halfway through the semester and more than 14,000 have not been paid their student allowance. This is appalling.
โWe said that job cuts to the back office were going to mean more paperwork flowing through to the frontline. Our students are feeling the brunt of this today.
โWith no update in sight about Te Pลซkenga and university funding still on the line with no reassurances from either Minister, I worry theyโre going to drop the ball on a sector that supports hundreds of thousands into work
โThis is all in addition to a measly increase to the minimum wage which was well below inflation, power bills going up, and student loan interest rates increasing for those overseas.
โIf we want our students to secure jobs, be in good health and have a place to live, we need to ensure our support systems are providing relief to those who need it now to achieve those things,โ Shanan Halbert said.