Stud. Ass. letter to Sir Keith

Press, 26 May 1979, Page 1

Stud. Ass. letter to Sir Keith

PA Wellington The president of the Victoria University Students’ Association (Mr A. Tees) defied his chancellor (Mr K. O’Brien) to present an open letter of protest to the Governor-General (Sir Keith Holyoake) yesterday.

Sir Keith was at the university to open officially the four new buildings on the campus. In spite of being told to return to his seat, Mr Tees gave a short speech outlining the letter and then presented it to the Gover-nor-General on behalf of the students of Victoria University. The letter said that increased fees and decreased bursaries would mean that the tendency for universities to educate only the wealthy would become an accepted part of the education system. Students plan to boycott lectures at all universities on July 26 to protest against Government cuts in education spending.

The decision to mount a campaign of “unprecedented size” was taken unanimously at a New Zealand University Students’ Association council meeting in Christchurch last week-end, said the association’s president (Mr

C. J. Gosling) yesterday. Students would call for widespread public support for the campaign, and involvement in it, he said. The campaign would involve closing the universities.

“The Government is obviously more interested in short-term economically expedient savings than in the economic and social future of this country,” said Mr Gosling.

The S3M cut would not only be sustained by nonsalarv items. Some universities had frozen their staff appointments. A meeting of N.Z.U.S.A. constituent presidents and education officers tomorrow at Hamilton will plan further action in a campaign to oppose education cuts and alert the public to the implications for the future, he said. The president of the association of University Teachers (Dr B. S. Gustafson) said last evening that his members would be unlikely to stop work for the national student protest day. “Staff are really under pressure and could not afford to give up a day's lectures and research,” he said.

Lincoln protest, Page 22