Tertiary Education Policy - Building Wisdom Not Debt

OUR VISION

The Green Party envisions a tertiary sector that is well resourced, vibrant, innovative and responsive to the needs of students and the changing needs of our society, together with an education sector that recognises the cultural diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand. Tertiary education is part of the web of educational opportunities which help all New Zealanders fulfil their potential and deepen their understanding of the world we inhabit. The Green Party wants an education sector that builds a foundation of wisdom in this country and helps it to develop as a sustainable econation.

KEY PRINCIPLES

The Green Party affirms that:

• Higher education should be made equally accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education. (United Nations, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Article 13.2)
• Life-long learning should be available to all New Zealanders.
• Education should be seen not only as the acquisition of job skills; but as an integral part of life-long learning that fosters the gaining of wisdom, the fulfilment of human and societal potential and the advancement of knowledge as well as the raising of awareness of our interconnectedness with other life on this planet.
• The education system should respect and reflect cultural diversity and the diverse needs of those of different ages, outlooks and abilities.
• We will foster cooperation, not competition between education providers.
• Education should be learner centred, equitable, responsive, diverse, innovative, socially responsible, ecologically aware, publicly accountable and of high quality.
• Education should not be included in free trade agreements such as General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS).
• We will work with other political parties to ensure long-term viability and stability rather than triennial party political change.

SPECIFIC POLICIES

1. Addressing student debt

Student debt has reached crisis level. In 2005, it surpassed $7 billion and will reach $10 billion by 2010 under current policies. Debt has amassed as a result of high fees and limited access to a student allowance. Green Party policy on these issues will remove the need for a student loan scheme.

In order to address the legacy of more than a decade of the student loan scheme, the Greens will institute a programme to write off student debt for all those who contribute to our society.

The Green Party will:

1. Introduce a debt write-off scheme so that, at the end of studies, each year the person stays in Aotearoa and contributes through paid or unpaid full time work, a year’s worth of debt will be wiped.
2. Until the scheme is redundant, the Green Party will:
   
   1. Adjust repayment thresholds to start at a higher income level but introduce higher income bands that attract a higher rate of repayment.
   2. Suspend all interest for people on low incomes and for primary caregivers.
   3. Make study costs tax-deductible for students who do not qualify for an allowance.
   4. Apply zero real rate of interest to student loans (i.e. rate of Consumer Price Index only).

2. Moving towards a universal student living allowance

The Green Party supports the removal of barriers to participation in tertiary education, be they financial, cultural or social. One of the significant barriers to participation is the lack of financial support while studying. To address this, the Green Party supports:

1. Establishing a universal student allowance, at the level of the unemployment benefit, for all full-time students (including students aged 16 and 17 in tertiary education). As steps towards this, the Green Party will:
   
   1. Progressively reduce the age at which students cease to be means tested on their parents’ income.
   2. Re-introduce the independent circumstances allowance based on work history.
   3. Continue to raise the parental income threshold.
   4. Increase the accommodation allowance to the same level as that provided for beneficiaries.
   5. In relation to the allowable income for students receiving an allowance, ensure that Studylink applies the Student Allowance Appeal Authority rulings that calculations be based on average weekly income, and not on income in any one week.
   6. Make all unemployed students eligible for the unemployment benefit over the summer holiday, irrespective of parental income.

3. Reducing fees

The Green Party will:

1. Work towards establishing a public ‘fee-free’ tertiary education system. As steps towards this, the Green Party will:
   
   1. Cap and then progressively reduce student fees.
   2. Remove the ability for the TEC to approve exemptions from fees maxima.
   3. Investigate bonding, or other mechanisms of contribution, in exchange for fee-free tertiary education.
   4. Review funding mechanisms to explore alternatives to EFTS funding and the competitive approach it creates.
   5. Ensure that Tertiary Institutions are adequately funded.

4. Reducing Barriers

Students also face many other barriers to participation. To address some of these, the Green Party will:

1. Work with student associations, tertiary institutions, local government and other stakeholders to facilitate:
   
   1. Affordable and accessible public transport to and between campuses.
   2. Affordable and accessible childcare facilities on campus.
   3. Accessible campuses.
   4. Improved disability support services.

5. Honouring diversity

The Greens will work with Maori to ensure provisions for appropriate tertiary education services to Maori, within the public system, are improved, and Maori initiatives of alternative and/or parallel systems, identified by Maori as more appropriate for the delivery of services to Maori people, are adequately resourced, supported and encouraged.

6. Supporting tertiary institutions

Over the past decade, there has been a fall in the real value of tertiary subsidies. Tertiary institutions are facing real financial constraints. The Green Party will:

1. Review current funding to tertiary institutions to ensure that subsidies are sufficient to meet real costs and to provide sufficient funding to:
   
   1. Improve staff to student ratios;
   2. Improve library resources and staffing;
   3. Improve staff recruitment and retention.

7. Tertiary education research

In the tertiary education sector the Green Party will:

1. Ensure funding of research takes into account not only current assessment criteria such as quality and international recognition but also the public good and the process ensures accountability and transparency.
2. Ensure that academic freedom and institutional autonomy in research are recognised.
3. Support research in areas of public good and where there is little private investment or private gain.
4. Support research with a focus on ecological sustainability
5. Encourage career structures in which opportunities for advancement are not narrowly focused towards administration positions.
6. Encourage researchers to be co-operative and facilitate collegial dialogue.
7. Encourage and facilitate community involvement by researchers.
8. Facilitate the linking of local knowledge and wisdom with more traditional forms of research.
9. Have well-funded library and other information resources for "keeping up to date".

(For the Green Party’s full policy on research see our Research, Science and Technology policy.)

8. Private providers

Private Tertiary Establishments (PTEs) have an important role to play in the tertiary education sector. Some PTEs have proven themselves highly successful at reaching parts of the community that the public providers are traditionally poor at reaching, and have thus increased access to tertiary education. PTEs are also important in providing education in subject areas that the public sector does not cover, such as complementary medicine and biodynamic farming.

At the same time, there is growing concern at reports of PTEs offering courses at vastly inflated prices, competing with the public sector on popular courses in order to maximise profits without making a commitment to broader educational concerns, and placing an unfair burden on public institutions by failing to provide adequate resources, such as libraries, for their own students.

The Green Party believes:

1. Where tertiary education funding has to be prioritised it should be directed in the first instance to the public education sector (universities, polytechnics, wananga) and community based providers.
2. Funding for PTEs should be available where the PTE:
   
   1. is not in real competition with the public sector, because of the target population or because of the subject matter taught; and,
   2. can demonstrate quality, value and performance.

9. Export education

There has been a significant growth in the export education sector. Increasing numbers of foreign fee paying students have financially assisted tertiary providers but also stretched support services. The Green Party will:

1. Review the impact of the export education sector on domestic education.
2. Amend legislation to ensure export education providers have an input on the rate of the export education levy and how it is to be spent.