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Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 41 No. 8. April 17 1978

Bursaries.... — A Student Living Allowance?

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Bursaries....

A Student Living Allowance?

NOVEMBER 1972: The Labour Party becomes the Government promising a Standard Tertiary Bursary that would be an adequate living allowance.* NOVEMBER 1975; A National Party election advertisement promises that "All students will receive the Standard Tertiary Bursary." At each point National's proposals will be as good as, and may be better than the labour proposals These, and other, broken and late coming promises are a fair representation of the frustrations University and Technical Institute students have had to put up with for years. Both major political parties have caused these in their cynical chase for votes, in this case at the expense of students. Students are looking for a major improvement in their performance in the near future. *Standard Tertiary Bursary not introduced until February 1976. ** April 1978, and National's promises still not implemented.

Throughout the last 6 and more years, the New Zealand Zealand University Students Association (NZUSA) and the New Zealand Technical Institute Students Association (NZTISA) have made submissions, attended meetings and conferences, protested, and made every other reasonable effort to communicate to the Governments the concern students have felt about the Bursaries system.

The total time given to the National Government's promised consultation on Bursary reforms does not exceed 40 hours over a period of 2½ years.

Since its proposal in 1972, subsequent implementation in 1976, and to the present time, the level of the Bursary has only been increased by $2.00—hardly the 'substantial, across-the-board increase' recommended at the two government-organised Bursary Conferences, and bearing no relationship whatsoever to the increase in the cost-of-living over this period.

The National Government has undoubtedly moved as slowly as its Labour predecessor

With the provision last Xmas of the Student Community Service Programme (employment for unemployed students over their holidays) and subsequent $7 a week hardship provision, the Government has acknowledged the inadequacy of holiday employment opportunities and of the basic bursary. Further acknowledgments is the provision of the unemployment benefit to young persons on the full-time pre-unemployment programmes in Technical Institutes. Surely, if the Bursary was an adequate living allowance, it would be more expedient for them to have given the STB, rather than the more expensive (but of course, more realistic) unemployment benefit

The Minister of Education, Les Gandar, has said repeatedly that there will be no piecemeal changes in the Bursary system.

Clearly the government is not ready to implement the Reformed Bursary it promised in 1975,... We have yet to see the establishment of working parties as recommended in the 1976 and 1977 Bursaries Conferences. Obviously, the 1978 election promises are going to include the fabled New Reformed Bursary—how much longer will students have to wait for these?

Published by The New Zealand University Students Association (NZUSA), Box 9047, Wellington; & The New Zealand Technical Institute Students Association, C/. Wellington Polytechnic in the Interests of Informing Students and the Public about the Case For a Living Bursary Level.