Jobless-students forecast

Press, 16 November 1981, Page 15

Jobless-students forecast

The president of The New Zealand University Students’ Association, Mr Deryck Shaw, has said that 10,000 students would be unemployed by the end of this month' and that this could affect marginal seats on election day. - Mr Shaw said the Labour Department’s. October 30 statistics showed that 2096 students were registered as unemployed.

“They wouldn’t be in the dole queue if the Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger) hadn't delayed the start of the Students Community Service Programme,” he said. Mr Bolger last month rejected the students’ request that the programme, which subsidised employers for hiring students, be started as examinations end. Instead, he fixed a start date of November 30, two days after the

election and at least' a month after most students had been free to begin work. Mr Shaw said the late start meant that 10,000 students would be jobless by the time of the General Election. “Contrary to statements by the Employers’ Federation, students have made a full effort to obtain holiday employment. There just are not enough jobs available in the

unsubsidised sector,” Mr Shaw said. This’ meant students were totally dependant on the Government scheme if they were to earn enough to return to university next year, he said. Their -. earning chances had been cut by the late start. “It was a political decision, the scheme could have started earlier,” Mr Shaw said.