News

Newly crowned Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has begun his reign by attempting to tackle the problem of completion and retention rates among tertiary students. Specifically, he is unhappy about the current loan system, and is also focusing his guns on over-20s entry and second-chance learners.
 
In addition to his recent assurances that there will be no change to the interest-free student loan scheme, Joyce has mused aloud whether New Zealanders should be encouraging people into university who clearly have no place here. "The question is - is everybody who has that automatic entrance academically suited, and are they able to succeed? If not, are we fooling ourselves as a country in encouraging that?" Joyce told the Sunday Star-Times. "Perhaps we have to ask them to do something else first."
 
There have been no firm policy announcements, so it seems that Joyce is just testing the waters to gauge a response.
 
Vice Chancellors across the land like the direction Joyce is moving in on both fronts. New Zealand Vice Chancellors Committee chairman Derek McCormack has called for the Government to be bold regarding student loans. “Economically, it would be sensible to have interest on the loans … While we've got constrained resources, let's make sure that they go to the students that are most likely to succeed."
 
Victoria University Vice Chancellor Pat Walsh said there were many older students who had taken advantage of the policy but whose place would be better filled by a younger, more qualified person. "It might have been OK under the old system when every student who showed up got funded," said Victoria University vice-chancellor Pat Walsh. "But now that we only have a certain number of places, we clearly can't have a situation where a qualified student can't gain entry because an unqualified over-20 is in there ahead of them." Canterbury University Vice Chancellor Rod Carr said there should be "a uniform entry qualification for all - irrespective of age."
 
However, Joyce’s comments have not been universally well recieved. Some fear that this new direction will disproportionately affect those in the tertiary system who need the most support. In a press release, New Zealand University Students’ Association (NZUSA) co-President Pene Delaney said, "We are concerned that moves to restrict entry for over-20s will limit access to those who missed their first opportunities for tertiary education. This would disproportionately affect Maori, Pasifika, and second-chance learners."
 
Many Maori are second-chance learners who benefit from the current access arrangements into tertiary education. For example, in 2008 over 66 000 Maori tertiary students were over the age of 20, while only 14 000 were under the age of 20. 
 
The other NZUSA co-President, David Do, is afraid the changes will fundamentally affect the nature of our tertiary system. "Open access is a cornerstone of our tertiary education system. Any moves away from this will threaten participation by most of the population into tertiary education. This is the wrong message to send when we are trying to improve New Zealanders' skills in the current difficult economic environment.” 
 
OUSA President Harriet Geoghegan admits concern at the retention and completion rates at New Zealand universities, and welcomes attempts to rectify this. She is worried about exclusion measures based on age, however, and thinks that a test equivalent to University Entrance might resolve this.