Students seek help of public on bursaries

Press, 16 July 1982, Page 3

Students seek help of public on bursaries

Tertiary students will distribute 100,000 leaflets in Christchurch at the week-end to publicise the effects of Government cost-cutting measures.

‘The leaflets encourage people to complain about the abolition of both the Student Community Assistance Programme (S.C.A.P.) and teacher trainee allowances.

Students from Canterbury University, Lincoln College, Christchurch Teachers’ College and Christchurch Polytechnic will deliver two different leaflets to 50,000 Christchurch letter-boxes. One is about the abolition of the S.C.A.P. and 'is published by the four institutions' students’ associations. ,

It explains the programme’s origins,"its role in providing students with holiday work which benefited the community, and gives the student version of the effects of its abolition — student unemployment, less community service, and fewer students able to afford tertiary education. « “It is to; raise public awareness, not only of.how

the scheme’s abolition will affect students but also of how it will affect the community,” said the president of the' Canterbury University Students' Association, Mr Steven Ferguson. Public pressure could make the Government change its mind. he said. The other pamphlet, published by the New Zealand Teacher Trainees' Association, argues against the abolition of teacher trainee allowances. It said that the trainees’ income was reduced from $B2 a week in 1980 to $27 a week next year. “No-one can live on this," it said. Both pamphlets ask people to complain to their local member of Parliament. The S.C.A.P. pamphlet also asks people to sign a petition to restore the scheme. The petition will be available in shopping malls and community centres from July 17. The vice-president of the New Zealand University Students’ Association, Mr Roger Tobin, said yesterday

that students felt misled by Government members about the availability of summer work on farms.

Mr Tobin said the association had written to 36 Government members of Parliament, including all Cabinet ministers, commenting on suggestions by some of them that farms could absorb the 12,000 students employed by S.C.A.P. last summer. "None has given any evidence of farm jobs being available for students next summer,” he said.

The association was concerned that if many of the 12,000 students sought work on farms they may displace students from Lincoln College and Massey University who must work on farms as part of their course requirements.

“N.Z.U.S.A. has received no assurance that they will not miss jobs. “In fact, the Minister of Education (Mr Wellington) specifically declined to give such an assurance and by implication had admitted that Lincoln and Massey students may suffer.” Mr Tobin said.