Students have organized protests throughout the country over the past decade targeting university administrators and successive governments for cutbacks in education spending and steep increases in student fees. The protests have included student occupations of university buildings.

For the May 25 protest, however, the University of Canterbury administration shut down classes for the afternoon in support of the student action. Students from two other Christchurch campuses--Lincoln University and the Christchurch School of Medicine--also attended the rally.

The government has offered university and other post-secondary institutions a minimal 2.6 percent increase on their basic grant for 2002 provided they keep student fees at their current level. This follows last year's budget, which was widely considered inadequate. If the universities refuse the fee-freeze deal, they will lose not only next year's increase, but also access to a US$16 million research fund and a 2.3 percent funding increase already promised in exchange for freezing fees this year. University administrators assert that the deal will leave them millions of dollars short of what they need. But if they refuse it, they say they will have to raise fees by more than 20 percent and instigate further cutbacks.

University and other post-secondary courses were virtually free for most students in this country before so-called "free market" and "user pays" policies that began in the late 1980s under the Labour Party government in power at that time. Since the early 1990s, government funding per student has fallen more than 25 percent. An official scheme of interest-bearing student loans to help pay for course fees and living costs was established by the National Party government in 1992. Currently about 320,000 current and former students owe a total of more than US$1.6 billion on student loans.

Other changes to the education system over the last decade have encouraged universities and other post-secondary institutions to compete with each other for student enrollments because funding from the government is based on how many students they have signed up.

Student leaders have pointed out that this has led to an increasing percentage of university funds being spent on competitive advertising and sponsorship deals, rather than on teaching and research.

University of Canterbury Students Association president Jarrod Gilbert told the May 25 rally that the action was the start of a campaign to increase government spending on education.

Stuart Needham is a member of the Meat Workers Union in Christchurch.  
 
 
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