Student fees ‘law breach’

Press, 7 May 1983, Page 4

Student fees ‘law breach’

PA Wellington . The Human Rights Commission has told the Government that it is breaching international law by charging private overseas students $l5OO a year to attend university in New, Zealand, according to the New Zealand University Students Association. Despite this, the Government is considering a big rise in the fees, according to an N.Z.U.S.A. statement. The student body and others asked the commission if the Government was breaching international law by making the charge. The commission found “persuasive” submissions that the charge was discriminatory and recommended that the Government closely examine its international obligations, according to a press release from MJZ.UB.A. The!’* release included a

copy of what the student body said was the commission’s report to the Prime Minister in March. It has not previously been made public. According to the report, the commission found that, under the Unesco Convention Against Discrimination in Education, to which New Zealand is a party, countries are obliged to purge from their books any laws or practices which treat students unequally. It found that the only permissible distinction was a country’s capacity at education institutions. “The report clearly shows that New Zealand is out of step and it is not surprising that neither the Prime Minister nor the commission has yet released this report to the news media or the public,” said N.Z.U;SA president, Robin »