Student funding a problem

Press, 7 May 1987, Page 9

Student funding a problem

Shifting the cost of higher education from the community to students, through loans was unlikely to improve university attendance, said the Chancellor of the University of Canterbury, Mr Charles Caldwell, yesterday. He was addressing the graduation ceremony held at the Christchurch Town Hall for students who have gained degrees in science, commerce, and forestry. In the debate about the cost of higher education, two uncomfortable facts had been pushed to the background, Mr Caldwell said. “Since the only certainties in this world are said to be death and taxes, it must follow that graduates who earn more are also paying higher taxes. They do repay throughout their careers the investment made in their education,” Mr Caldwell said. The second point was that universities were established by the community for its own needs. The 23,000 graduates who passed through the

University of Canterbury during the last 25 years were required in occupations essential to a healthy community, he said. “The principle of ‘user pays’ already exists in universities, so no change is necessary in the method of funding university education,” Mr Caldwell said. The university’s ViceChancellor, Professor Bert Brownlie, criticised the Government for inadequate funding and delays in approval for new buildings for the university. This would lead to . a larger number of qualified students being declined, he said. “In recent years, Government funding has not kept pace with the growth in enrolments," Professor Brownlie said. This had resulted in a deterioration of the staffstudent ratio from 1:11.5 to 1:15, threatening standards of teaching and research, he said. In order to protect the university’s standards, entry to some courses had

been limited. “The Government’s financial provision, if not policy, has restricted access to university education. Such a myopic approach to education might suggest that the Treasury Ministers know the price

of everything and value of nothing,” Professor Brownlie said. “I hope this is not the case, and that those who have graduated do not represent the beginning of the end of an era,” he said.