Staff support student action on the state of higher education
5 April 2001
The National Tertiary Education Union is supporting students across the country today who are protesting against the damage caused by funding cuts to universities. NTEU members will be attending rallies in capital cities and on campus, and members have been asked not to penalise students who miss classes because of their participation in the National Day of Action. NTEU President Carolyn Allport will address a rally in Melbourne today.
`The damage caused to Australian universities by the Howard Government is an issue which affects staff as well as students,’ said Dr Allport. `Preliminary findings of an ARC-funded study on university staff stress, in which NTEU is a partner, indicate that university staff are so distressed by increased workloads and greater pressure to generate commercial revenue, that they are twice as likely to suffer health effects than members of the general population.’
`One illustration of this pressure is the student:staff ratios which, according to official data, have risen by over 26% from 1995 to 1999.’
Dr Allport said that the financial difficulties inflicted on universities by the Howard Government were contributing to concerns about declining quality and intellectual freedom.
`The concerns recently highlighted about standards, private fee income and commercial sponsorship stem directly from the environment created by Federal Government policies. These concerns relate to all areas of university activity from teaching and learning though infrastructure to research.‘
`Australian students now pay more through HECS than their counterparts in public universities in the UK and the US, while serious concerns are coming to light about what students and society get out of education. Students and staff must ensure that these concerns are a source of pressure to all political parties in the lead up to the Federal Election.’