Money-go–round not a solution to education
new-zealand-labour-party
Tue Oct 12 2010 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Money-go–round not a solution to education
Tuesday, 12 October 2010, 3:39 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
Money- go –round not a solution to investing in education
Labour’s spokesperson for Tertiary Education Grant Robertson said robbing Peter to pay Paul is not the answer to building a more skilled and productive workforce in New Zealand
“It’s good that Steven Joyce and National have belatedly accepted the calls by opposition parties and the tertiary sector that there was a desperate need to support people into tertiary education rather than having universities shut the gates on qualified people.
“But this should not come from a money-go-round where he’s limiting opportunities for one sector of students to pay for another by transferring $55 million from the Industry Training sector and handing it over to Universities.
“In June Steven Joyce told the select committee that he thought his policies would be part of dampening demand for tertiary education in 2011. This was a short sighted statement.
Labour’s associate spokesperson for Labour Carol Beaumont said that all parts of the tertiary education sector play an important role in increasing the education and skill level of New Zealanders. Up skilling our workforce is one of the most important ways of increasing productivity in New Zealand.
“National has shown no commitment to industry training whatsoever. They have no plan on skills having ditched the tripartite skills strategy and not held any meetings of the Skills Forum,” said Carol Beaumont.
“In times of high unemployment it is even more important to invest in industry training. The money being cut from industry training could have supported up to 55,000 students.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
“It is also worrying that the funding increase is a one-off for just two years, effectively only being for undergraduate study. Tertiary education is an investment in our future that requires sustained support including in terms of post graduate study and research,” said Grant Robertson.
“It is great that some New Zealanders who might have missed out on universities will get to go next year, but it should not be at the expense of important skill development for New Zealand's workforce,” said Grant Robertson and Carol Beaumont.
ENDS
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
Find more from New Zealand Labour Party on InfoPages.