Nine Billion Debt is nothing to be proud of
te-pati-maori
Thu Mar 29 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Nine Billion Debt is nothing to be proud of
Thursday, 29 March 2007, 9:42 am
Press Release: The Maori Party
Nine Billion Debt is nothing to be proud of says Maori Party Co-leader
Dr Pita Sharples; Co-leader of the Maori Party
Wednesday 28 March 2007
The Maori Party tertiary education spokesperson, Dr Pita Sharples today expressed amazement that the Labour Government could release a glowing statement ‘celebrating student support’ when all the education players across the board are calling for urgent government intervention to address the astronomical levels of student debt.
“What sort of Government responds to the democratic right of our students to speak up about the shameful levels of national debt by announcing that on April 1 we will celebrate an important milestone in student support”.
“It’s obviously some sort of unfunny April Fools Day joke dreamt up by Dr Cullen” said Dr Sharples.
“Aotearoa embraces the opportunities that result from tertiary qualified people, particularly at this time of skill shortages across the board from professionals to tradespeople” said Dr Sharples. “But it is at a massive cost to our young people – with student debt racheting up about a billion dollars a year”.
"The Maori proportion of that debt is a massive 1.25 billion dollars - nearly twice the amount paid out in Treaty settlements to date. The mind just boggles at the effects this level of debt is having on students, workers and whanau".
“The cost of tertiary education is just way too high with Maori reluctant to get into debt, due to fears about being able to pay it back” said Dr Sharples. “What this means is that many turn away from the more costly degree courses - but what we know is that Maori degree graduates are more likely to earn on par with non-Maori".
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“The outcomes tell it all” said Dr Sharples. “While around 130,000 Maori students participate in tertiary education a year, the latest census figures show there have only been around10,000 bachelor degrees awarded to Maori over the last five years”.
"And yet Maori student debt is dismissed by Government as a consequence of high Maori participation in tertiary education - but with no thought or care about how the cost of education determines who studies what, which in turn, impacts on who gets what jobs, and who gets the jobs with decent pay packets attached”.
"The interest-free loan policy has not been enough. Further drastic changes are needed, and fast".
"The Maori Party is calling - once again - for significant reductions in fees, increased allowances and access to them, and a greater number of scholarships at the under-graduate level" concluded Dr Sharples.
Background information
- When the United Nations Special Rapporteur visited Aotearoa last year, he reported that the Maori students in Tertiary Education of Aotearoa complained to the Special Rapporteur that a limitation to their progress to higher programmes in tertiary education is the high burden of student debt and decreasing public funding to support Maori students”.
- Research by the New Zealand Union of Students Association shows the greater debt aversion of Maori due to fears about repayment. They are less likely to take on higher cost courses (such as degree programmes) due to the risk of incurring significant debt and financial pressure.
- The Student Loan Scheme report of October 2006 described Maori and Pasifika student borrowing as increasing while Pakeha borrowing is dropping.
ENDS
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