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Salient. Official Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 21. September 3 1979
President
President
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In a University Council meeting last Monday, council passed a motion urging the Government to postpone the new Tertiary Study Grant scheme until at least 1981. Although this is a welcome move from Council, supported by the Students Association, it is not as firm a stand as we believe should be taken.
The 1979 Budget states "The Government has decided to revise the bursary provisions for tertiary students in order to promote more equitable and effective financial assistance." Superficially, this seems to be a desirable objective for the Government to have but when the means of implementing this policy are investigated there is, from the students' point of view, much cause for concern.
| (a) | Students who this year are on the abated bursary rate ($19 per week) will now receive $23. |
| (b) | Students on the unabated rate ($30 per week) will have this basic grant cut to $23. |
| (c) | To obtain more than $23 a student must demonstrate hardship and to do so will require information about the students financial position and if the student is single and under 20, his or her parents financial position is also taken into account. |
| (d) | Payment of 25% of University course fees. |
| (e) | Criteria for retaining 'A' and 'B' supplementary bursaries have been tightened. |
Students who qualify for the basic grant of $23, can apply for the extra $17 if they demonstrate need. The Education Department decides how much of this $17 they should receive. It should be noted at this stage that statistics compiled by NZUSA showed that only 3.3% of students applying for a hardship grant this year received one. If it is as low under the new scheme, it is quite obvious many students, especially those living away from home, will not be able to afford to continue their studies.
At NZUSA August Council, the Education Commission voted to launch a campaign against the TSG for the remainder of this year. One of the [unclear: mb] objectives will be to encourage as [unclear: man] students as possible throughout the [unclear: count] to make the preliminary [unclear: applicatioi] (probably around October, November) [unclear: fo] the hardship grant. What will be asked [unclear: ir] this application, will be for you to [unclear: giv] some indication of your expected [unclear: holidu] earnings, and also how much you expect [unclear: to] earn during 1980. The reason for the preliminary application, according to the Education Department, is so students will have some idea of how much money they can expect in Tertiary assistance, in order for them to plan their courses. It is quite obvious most students will have no idea where they will be working for the holidays, how much they will be earning, even if they will be able to find a job at all.
I believe the amount students expect and what you will actually get will be way out But it is important for as many students as possible to apply — where because of the huge administration needed to implement the scheme, the Government will be forced to either abolish it, or postpone it.
There will be a detailed article coming up in Salient about just what the new tertiary Study Grant will mean to students but if anyone wants any information on the new system before this, do not hesitate to come along to the Studass Office and either talk to me or another executive member about it.
Caroline Massof
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