University job losses on Government's head

The Government must take the bulk of the blame for job losses at the University of Canterbury, says Labour’s Tertiary Education spokesperson Grant Robertson.

The University of Canterbury has today announced it will sack 150 staff over the next three years, because of lower student numbers and higher costs in the wake of the earthquakes.

“Why are these decisions being taken before the education recovery plan is finalised in September? There needs to be a broad strategy for education in Canterbury – not piecemeal decisions taken for purely financial reasons.

“The Government should have seen this coming. The University was always going to face financial pressures, but the Government has done little to help.

“Steven Joyce and the Ministry of Education should have got alongside the University last year, and looked for ways to reduce those pressures and save jobs.

“Laying off staff should be a last resort. Christchurch needs world-class tertiary education, and you don’t get that by sacking lecturers and tutors.”

“Steven Joyce has been asleep at the wheel, and it is the students of Canterbury University and the whole city of Christchurch that will suffer as a result,” says Grant Robertson.