A Unified Scheme

The bursaries and other sources of financial assistance that we have are unnecessarily complex, and are urgently in need of rationalization. There is no overall planning and many students do not know what bursaries are available in the various faculties.

The federation's scheme did not pretend to perfection, but it does claim to obviate these more obvious shortcomings in the present system. In essence, it suggested replacing all present bursaries at the undergraduate level with 1000 national bursaries per annum, sufficient to keep students fully during the term.

Details, such as the distribution among faculties, the application of, a means test, and an age limit, and the suggestion that bursaries should be granted only to students straight from school, were at once seized on by speakers from the floor.

There had been some confusion in the draft proposals between undergraduate assistance, and post graduate scholarships and research grants. Dr. Beaglehole thought there was no need to worry about the latter, except insofar as they were overweighted in favour of the mechanical sciences. It was sufficient, but internally disproportionate. But it was undergraduate bursaries that the scheme purported to deal with, and mention of altogether different matters weakened the case.