Student bodies make bursary proposals

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33790, 12 March 1975, Page 18

Student bodies make bursary proposals

New Zealand’s three major student organisations, representing more than 50.000 students, have released draft proposals for a standerd tertiary bursary which they will discuss soon with the Minister of Education (Mr Amos).

The proposals, to be sent to all tertiary students, have been endorsed by the University Stud-1 ents’ Association, the Student Teachers’ Association, and the Technical Institute Students’ i Association.

Al] students are asked to study the proposals in the light of the unfavourable reaction to the Government’s announcement about interim] increases in some student bursaries. Students will forward their reactions to their national body, and from these a final proposal will be presented to the Government. Students believe that initially the standard tertiary bursary should be paid to all full-time students eligible for admission to a tertiary institution.

The bursary, which would be a cost-of-living related benefit tied to general wage orders, would be paid to technical institute and university students from the date of enrolment until the end of examinations. In the case of student teachers, the bursary should be paid throughout the year. BASIS FOR BURSARY

The present unemployment benefit has been suggested as a possible basis for the standard tertiary bursary, but the student organisations hope that the actual level of the bursary paid will be the subject of negotiations with the Department of Education. Additional allowances to cover costly courses should be paid to the teaching institution concerned, according to the student proposals. Some of the areas such allowances would cover include field trips at Lincoln College, fine-arts courses at Canterbury and Auckland universities, veterinary courses at Massey University, and dentistry courses at the University of Otago. Separate boarding allowances would not be paid under the standard tertiary bursary, but students’ accommodation costs should be included in the new bursary, the proposals say. There is also an urgent need seen for greater Government assistance in the provision of student accommodation.

The student organisations have emphasised that they will strongly resist any attempt to introduce the standard tertiary bursary “on the cheap” by lowering the rates of pay of student teachers. They say that the new bursary system should be introduced with student teachers excluded until the “restrictive practice of the student teachers’ bond is removed.” FEMALE STUDENTS

Special provision must be made for married students and those with a dependent wife and possibly a family, the proposals say. Consideration should also be given to the position of older students who have financial commitments such as their own home.

If hardship allowances continue under the new standard tertiary bursary system, these should be extended to cover female students who are “disadvantaged” because of lack of vacation employment or discriminatory wage rates. The student organisations emphasise that the solution of the bursary proposals will reouire protracted negotiations. The Government, they say, should establish a committee equally representative of the student groups and the Department of Education, with an independent chairman acceptable to all.

“This would be a i permanent committee meeting regularly to work out solutions | to areas not covered by the i standard tertiary bursary and to consider any anomalies which might arise. Its opera- ; tions would be funded by the i Government, it would have I wide powers to consult inter-

ested parties such as the universities and teachers’ organisations, and it would make recommendations directly to j the Minister of Education.” i “LITTLE HELP” I The Government’s “sup- ! posed bursary increases”! iwould be of little help to (students in real financial difficulties, said the Opposition spokesman on education (Mr L. W. Gandar) yesterday, according to a Press Association message. “When is the Minister of Education going to act?” he said. "He is always promising but never comes up with anything substantial. The boarding allowance has not been increased, and by introducing a hardship allowance the Government is not improving the lot of students in relation to the rest of the community. “Women students, in particular, who have had little opportunity during the last three months to earn, let alone save enough with which to begin the university year will face severe problems,” said Mr Gandar.

“Is this what the Government wants? Why discriminate against students who, as the Government must know, are little better off in real terms than 10 years ago. If the Government is genuine about its offer, every student in New Zealand would be advised to apply for the allowance for hardship, as they are all suffering from it. “National kept university bursaries in line with the cost of living, and promises to Ibring them back to a realistic level,” Mr Gandar said. “POLITICAL PLOY” The president of the Student Teachers’ Association (Mr D. Stedman) said from Wellington last evening that the interim increases granted by the Government in some bursaries would do nothing to help people obtain a tertiary education. “While $lOO a year for technical institute students must be welcomed, it should Jbe viewed in real terms of ]52.40 a week over the (technical-institute year,” he isaid. “The provision of up to $l5O for emergency relief for university students who can prove hardship is merely a political ploy. “The Cabinet knows perfectly well that students, like most New Zealanders, are too proud to ask for charity, especially when faced with the degradation of a means test,” Mr Stedman said. He was still convinced that there was a connection between the realistic subsistence allowances paid to teacher-trainees and the record applications last year for teachers’ colleges.

“Many students were opting for "these institutions be j cause of the low rates of assistance in other tertiary areas,” Mr Stedman said.