The Education Amendment Bill (No. 4) was introduced to Parliament recently and had its first reading under urgency last week.
The Bill makes a number of changes to the Education Act, including establishing a new Crown agent Education New Zealand. Perhaps of particular interest to students is that the Bill allows the Tertiary Education Minister to control the extra fees Universities may charge for non-academic services.
Joyce stated that the Bill will result in higher standards and greater accountability.
The Greens were the only party to oppose the bill at its first reading. A spokesperson from the Greens party said that in a post VSM environment, the bill could effectively allow the Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce to dictate which services the institution is allowed to provide.
Education Amendment Bill (No. 4) somewhat controversial
