Loans simply to live: Greens join student protest

Green Party Education Spokesperson Metiria Turei is to join tertiary students at Parliament to protest student allowance polices which have forced the average student debt up to nearly $30,000.

The Green Party’s cooperation agreement with the Government requires them to make budget allocations for raising parental income thresholds which will increase the number of students eligible for student allowances.

“The Green Party wants to make sure the number of students getting full allowances increases, as that is where the real need is,” Mrs Turei says.

“If the Government simply raises the top threshold, so that more students are entitled to $20 a week, it will be a failure to meet our agreement and a gross insult to students.”

New research released today shows that just to cover essential living costs, students are required to take out bank loans and use overdrafts and credit cards.

“There is no justification for students being the only group in society forced to borrow simply to live.

“This inequity is directly reflected in a significant reduction of enrolments from students from poorer backgrounds, down from 15 percent in 2004 to 6 percent in 2007.

“The new research shows that 88 percent of students believe that loans, which are taken out just to survive, will have some impact on their ability to buy a house.

“Over a third say it will impact other important life decisions such as when to have children and ability to save for the future.

“These are significant decisions that no previous generation has had to consider on the basis of a crippling loan often acquired while still a teenager and in the early twenties.

“Universal student allowances must be restored if we are to deal with the ramifications of a generation growing up in debt such as the loss of our graduates to overseas jobs, the inability to get into the housing market, and the forced delay starting families,” Mrs Turei says.

“The fact is that Government policies are falling far short of a fair deal for tertiary students who are being compelled out of the country, either to earn enough to pay off their debt or to avoid it altogether.”