Waikato University 'will turn students away'

PETER DRURY/Waikato Times

POLITICAL EDUCATION: Labour Party leader Phil Goff takes a look at Waikato University construction work with Vice-Chancellor Roy Crawford during a whistle-stop visit to Hamilton.

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At a time when unemployment is rising, Waikato University will next year be turning away people because of restrictions on student numbers, according to Labour Party leader Phil Goff.

Yet the university has the capacity to cater for another 1500 students.

Both Mr Goff and Education Minister Anne Tolley yesterday had separate private meetings with university Vice-Chancellor Roy Crawford to discuss the Government-enforced enrolment caps.

Afterwards, Mr Goff told the Waikato Times there were people wanting to attend the university next year who would probably be turned away because of the restrictions on student numbers.

"It seems astonishing that at a time when we've just had the biggest increase in unemployment in any one quarter, the university next year will be faced with turning away students."

In 2007, the Tertiary Education Commission capped equivalent fulltime students at tertiary institutions until 2010.

Funding could be taken away if institutions exceeded, or fell short of, predicted student numbers by more than 3 per cent.

"They're (Waikato University) already 106 per cent of what they're funded to be," Mr Goff said.

Professor Crawford had outlined the university's capacity to take on as many as 1500 extra students because it already had the building space and staff to do so, Mr Goff said.

"So for a relatively low cost you could be adding high value in terms of human skills and education, and instead next year we'll be paying probably a billion dollars a year in unemployment benefits to pay people while they're out of work, but without upskilling them."

"We could actually be using the time of the recession to upskill students so that when we come out of the recession, which we should do next year, we've got a more highly skilled and educated workforce".

Those thought to be first in the firing line are the numbers accepted for Pathways courses, which have about 270 students currently.

This number is predicted to drop to 40 by next year.

The pre-degree courses, which help students into tertiary education, would come under pressure as the university focused more on under-graduate and post-graduate courses.

"So you stop the process of people staircasing to higher levels of qualification and education," Mr Goff said.

Earlier this year the university was funded for up to 8165 students. Mrs Tolley was not available to meet the Times.

A spokesman said she and Prof Crawford talked about measures to bring the university back within the cap.

"Professor Crawford understands the pressures it puts on his institution and the Government when it goes over the cap, and is looking at ways to manage that," the spokesman said.

"The minister is watching the situation carefully and working with the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors' Committee. They meet on a regular basis and discussions are ongoing."

He said Mrs Tolley had asked all tertiary institutions to closely monitor management and performance to ensure the country was getting good educational and financial value for money in the face of the recession.

- © Fairfax NZ News