Time to rethink student fees
The public needs to challenge the on-going rise in student fees, say TEU national president Sandra Grey. “Fees continue to rise by a few percent here and there every year, but nearly always ahead of...
View ArticleGovt actions suppress education salaries
Statistics New Zealand reports a 0.5 percent increase in the Labour Cost Index (LCI) in the three months to June. For people working in public sector education and training the news is worse, with...
View ArticleInequality growing issue for workers
CTU economist Bill Rosenberg says recent reports on income inequality show thatincome inequality rose again in the year to June 2011, and is now at its highest level ever in New Zealand. The report on...
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Fee rises outpace inflation
Tertiary Update Vol 15 No 36 The current round of fee rises that university councils are announcing is another sign the government’s cuts to education are unsustainable says TEU’s University of...
View ArticlePM’s new spending barely matches inflation
In his first speech to parliament this year, Prime Minister John Key said that the government plans to allow for only $800 million new operating spending in this year’s budget. The government initially...
View ArticleWomen’s Fiesta focuses on child poverty
“By 1999 child poverty among those left out — those on welfare benefits – was terrible, and the pressures on foodbanks and budgeting and other social services continued a relentless upward drift.”...
View ArticleCost of education races ahead of inflation
Statistics New Zealand released its Consumer Price Index inflation statistics yesterday and revealed that the cost of tertiary education rose four times as fast as CPI for other goods and services....
View ArticleBudget 2013 preview
With the national budget now just a week away Tertiary Update previews what tertiary education can expect. There are two central issues to preview; how much money the government spends and what it...
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2013 Budget analysis
Commentary by TEU vice-president Sandra Grey As I sit here humming Monty Python’s “Always look on the bright side of life”, my immediate thoughts on the 2013 Budget is thank goodness there aren’t the...
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Students lose in last week’s Budget
Tertiary Update Vol 16 No 16 Punitive measures to catch debt-laden graduates at the border are a symptom of a bigger problem says TEU national president Lesley Francey. Last week’s budget drew media...
View ArticleLiving Wage good for employers and the economy
The amuamu (argument) that a Living Wage will push up inflation and harm productivity lacks evidence. In fact the research shows, says Te Kauae Kaimahi (CTU) economist Dr Bill Rosenberg, that higher...
View ArticleCasual employees want security not flexibility
Tertiary Update Vol 16 No 24 Seven out of every eight TEU members who are on casual, fixed-term or insecure employment agreements would like permanent work, according to TEU’s recent survey of casual...
View ArticleBill to arrest student debtors at the border
A government bill to catch student loan defaulters at the borders entered Parliament this week. The bill gives the Inland Revenue Department new powers to deal with a small number of ex-students who...
View ArticleCost of education racing ahead of inflation
Two of the big costs driving up inflation are ones the government can control; health and education. TEU national president Lesley Francey says the cost of tertiary education is rising two and half...
View ArticleUniversity of Auckland fee rise angers students
Students expressed frustration at the decision from the University of Auckland Council this week to yet again raise tuition fees by the maximum allowable 4 percent Auckland University Student’s...
View ArticlePressure growing for fairer pay rises
With inflation climbing over 1 percent for the first time in a year, TEU’s governing council believes pressure is growing on employers, and on the State Services Commission, to negotiate higher pay...
View ArticleEmployment data puts pressure on for pay rises
Tertiary Update Vol 16 No 38 Average ordinary-time hourly earnings rose in both the private (up 2.6 percent) and public (up 2.7 percent) sectors according to Statistics NZ’s latest Quarterly Employment...
View ArticleJoyce joins debate on funding cuts
Tertiary education minister Steven Joyce rejected TEU’s claim that tertiary education had suffered nearly a billion dollars of funding cuts under the current government. He told National Radio’s...
View ArticleGrowing poverty gap makes it harder for tertiary education
TEU national president Lesley Francey say the census data showing a growing gap between rich and poor is proof that tertiary education teachers face a tougher job than they did six years ago. The...
View ArticleGovernment must focus on growing social deficit
“The Government must move away from a narrow focus on fiscal deficit reduction to the social deficits that have not been addressed”, says CTU economist Bill Rosenberg. “The Budget Policy Statement...
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