Foreign student fees criticised

Press, 11 May 1984, Page 5

Foreign student fees criticised

The Government regards university students from overseas as a source of revenue, according to the New Zealand University Students’ Association. The International Students’ Congress, being held in Christchurch this week, was told by the overseas student co-ordina-tor, Ms Emele Duituturaga, that the Government used to regard overseas students attending New Zealand universities as a form of foreign aid. The congress is an annual event organised to bring overseas students together to discuss their problems. About 60 students from Malaysia, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Western Samoa and the Philippines are attending the congress, being held at Hibburt Park

in Spencerville. Ms Duituturaga said the Government’s $l5OO fees for overseas students was attracting rich students only, with poorer students being pushed out. The new policy of giving New Zealand students total rights for places in universities was worsening the situation, she said. Although there may be more places in primary and secondary schools, university rolls throughout New Zealand were increasing, thus decreasing the chances for foreign students.

Overseas students were being forced out of classes such as engineering, as had happened at the University of Auckland this year, she said.

The N.Z.U.S.A., with the help of overseas students, had to seek secure places

for overseas students in particular courses such as this, she said.

She told the congress that foreign students had much to offer New Zealanders. “New Zealand is a culturally ignorant country. People from here say they want to go overseas to experience different cultures, but they do not look around at the diversity in their own country first,” she said.

“We can show New Zealanders what it is like to be an overseas student from a different cultural background. People in New Zealand seem to ignore anybody who is different from them, when they could be learning about other people. “Unless you assert your differences and your needs, the present education system, with its prejudices,

will continue.” The theme for the congress this year is “Education for whom, for what,” she told the students. “We have to sit back and ask ourselves why we came to New Zealand for an education and what we will gain from it, said Ms Duituturaga.

“Because we have been chosen by various processes to be here, we have a responsibility not only to educate ourselves, but to make these education processes available to others back home.” The outlook for overseas students was grim.

“We cannot afford to sit back. We must reassess our goals and reorganise our resources to secure maximum benefits,” said Ms Duituturaga. Another issue which the

congress had to look into was the availability of employment over the summer. Students needed the jobs to assist them in the next university year. Figures from the student job search programme showed that overseas students had more problems in securing jobs and this was made more difficult by their ineligibility for Government-subsidised schemes.

Ms Duituturaga said that overseas students would face serious problems if the immigration bill was passed by the Government.

The bill would serve to drive a wedge between the different cultural groups in New Zealand society. It would bring about a “guilty until proved innocent” situation to all immigrants.