UNIVERSITY FEES: CUTS FOR A FEW, INCREASES FOR THE MAJORITY
7th April 2003
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) today welcomed Federal Education Minister Dr Brendan Nelson’s recognition that university fees for teachers and nurses are too high.
However, while the proposed cut in fees for approximately 19,000 full time equivalent teaching and nursing students is long overdue, Australia’s other 300,000 university students will end up paying up to 50% of the cost of their education as a result of the Government’s Higher Education at the Crossroads Review.
“The Minister is admitting that student fees are too high”, said NTEU President Dr Carolyn Allport. “NTEU research shows that students currently pay, on average, 40% of the cost of their education”.
“While a small reduction in fees for teachers and nurses is welcome, this is simply window dressing. Dr Nelson’s real agenda is to push student’s fees by up to 50%”.
“The proposed additional 625 new places for nursing students are insufficient in addressing the national shortage of 5,000 nurses. And, while Dr Nelson has asked for additional funds to train more teachers, we are still not convinced that the Crossroads Review will go far enough in addressing the crisis in teacher retention rates.”
“The sting in the tail is that regional universities will be hardest hit”, added Dr Allport. “The Government will force them to chose between dollars for teaching and dollars for research”.
“The relationship between teaching and research, one of the defining characteristics of universities, will be irretrievably broken at regional universities if the proposed measure is allowed to happen”, concluded Dr Allport.
Students and staff from all Australian universities will be participating in a National Day of Action to protest against Dr Nelson’s Crossroads Review on Thursday 10th April.
For Further Information and Comment Contact:
Andrew Nette
National Policy and Research Coordinator
Ph (03) 9254 1910 Mobile 0438 026 277