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Overseas Students Rally

The campaign against the Government's cutback in overseas student numbers advanced a step forward last week when the Overseas Students Admissions Committee [OSAC] decided that the quota on Malaysian students should be dropped.

OSAC is made up of representatives of the universities and NZUSA and the Chairman of the University Grants Committee. It is largely an administrative body which selects first year overseas students on behalf of the universities.

Last year at its annual meeting, OSAC barely discussed the [unclear: Givernmentts] policy to cut back on Malaysian students. A motion asking that the Government defer introduction of the cutback was lost.

Since that time students and the universities have seen the effects of the cutback. The total intake of first-year overseas students fell by nearly 40% this year because of the 45% cut in the Malaysian numbers. Information produced by the OSAC office showed that there is no likelihood that enough students will come from other countries to fill the places denied to Malaysians.

An organised effort by overseas and Kiwi students on each campus over the last two months saw university councils debate the Government's policy of cutting overseas student numbers. Apart from Massey University, where the Council has not yet debated the matter, each university decided that the Government should not cut back overseas students.

At the OSAC meeting the case against the Government's policy was forcefully represented by Lisa Sacksen, the President of NZUSA. Arguing that the presence of overseas students in NZ universities is a valuable form of aid to developing countries, as well as providing an important point of contact between New Zealand students and those from other lands, Lisa Sacksen showed that the Government's reasons for imposing the cutback were incapable of justification.

Lisa's arguments were taken up by university representatives. With effective support from Victoria University's Student Welfare Director, Ian Boyd, Auckland University moved and Waikato University seconded a motion that the Malaysian quota be suspended until students from other countries are available to fill the modest number of places made available to overseas students by the universities. This motion was carried by consensus, as was another motion calling for the further cutback in Malaysian numbers in 1978 to be dropped.

Another point that emerged strongly from this meeting was that the universities want to be consulted in future on the Government's policy on the admission of overseas students. Quite properly the universities believe that their many years of experience in helping educate overseas students should be made good use of when Government policies are being considered.

The ball is in the Government's court now. The universities and students have made made it clear that they are not satisfied with the cut back policy, and have offered their advice and co-operation in helping to work out a more just policy in the future. If the Government is sincere in wanting to help people from developing countries, it will respond to the OSAC members views in the same positive spirit with which these opinions were given.