_Media Release
3 August 2009
ACE is a vital link in our education chain
Tertiary Education Union national secretary Sharn Riggs is offering her support to those who will be rallying this week to oppose cuts to adult and community education.
“Adult and community education has not only seen its funding savagely cut, it has been marginalised by the government as ‘hobby courses’ for personal interest only. The government’s attempt to define some types of education as more worthy and valuable than other types is a dangerous path to go down. Not only does it risk excluding the many people for whom traditional education does not work, it also cuts the variety, colour and enjoyment out of education.”
“Home mechanics or Moroccan cookery might be the minister of education’s idea of a hobby, but for many people the classes that teach these skills are important links to people in their communities and ideas in our culture and other cultures that they might otherwise never meet.”
“Education is a democratic tool that exposes us to new ideas, new people and new chances. Deciding that some topics are not worth studying or have no productive value undermines the democratic hope that education gives us,” says Ms Riggs.
Sharn Riggs will be joining the ACE staff and students from Wellington High School and Onslow High School at on their march to parliament tomorrow at 2.15pm.
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