Debt-Free Futures Open Letter

DEBT FREE FUTURE OPEN LETTER TO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

To the Members of Parliament of Aotearoa New Zealand,
We, the elected representatives of students are asking you, the elected representatives of the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, to work together to create a Debt Free Future for all tertiary learners.

Our vision is for an Aotearoa New Zealand free of debt accrued by our tertiary students; where everyone has access to free tertiary education; where we resource all students to eliminate poverty within the community; and where we have eliminated the more than $16.3bn of debt accrued by students.

Our country has a rich history of free tertiary education, for 121 years until it was taken from us in 1990. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated that “education is the greatest enabler in society”, and after lobbying from students and supporters across the motu, in 2017 we secured a promise of 3 years Fees Free; but in 2020 the Government broke its promise to extend the policy and took this opportunity, this right, from learners.

OUR ASK.

We want a free and accessible education system from end to end.

We accept that sustainable change can be incremental, and therefore ask that the following steps towards a Debt Free Future are immediately taken:

Implementation of the rest of the 3 years Fees Free. We would like to see this as an efts-based system to account for part time learners and those on limited full time study pathways.

Implement free Taught Postgraduate Degrees. Lincoln University instigated this initiative in 2020 and saw a significant increase in enrolments. We need to enable our workforce to be lifelong learners and supported to take opportunities to upskill and be flexible in the labour market. This would be a first step towards an end-to-end fees free tertiary education system.

Increase to the income repayment threshold. We need to let our learners keep more of their incomes before having to pay back their loans. This repayment is an additional 12% tax on any income above $20,000 per anum or if you earn over $385 per week. This holds back students from saving for their next semester of study. This holds back students from saving from a home deposit. This is a handbrake on our economy.

Implement the recommendations of the People’s Inquiry into Student Wellbeing, particularly a Universal Education Income. Students’ access to financial support should not depend on their parental income level, or how well that is hidden, or an age that the state determines they are no longer supported by their parents. Allowances should be universal and apply regardless of age or level of study.

WHY A DEBT FREE FUTURE?

Our situation

We believe that equal access to education is a public right. Māori and Pasifika learners take longer than Pākehā learners to pay off their loans. We expect that every person who wants to access tertiary education must be afforded this opportunity free from financial limitations.

Aotearoa New Zealand is entrapped in a cost-of-living crisis. We know that these crises affect our lowest income earners the most, and students certainly fit into this group. Students are also almost entirely dependent on the state for their incomes. The state therefore has a responsibility to ensure our students are afforded the support to live and study rather than spend their time looking for work to afford their rent.

The $16.3 billion of debt accrued by learners is a handbrake on our country’s economic future and this has only existed since 1990. At 30,000 debt per learner, repayment is charged at an extra tax 12% rate that our learners are burdened with despite education being regarded as an important investment in society and a necessary tool for securing our future.

Being a world leader?

Internationally there has been a move to acknowledging the importance of free education. Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and France have free, or nominal fees for students studying across the education levels. The USA debt forgiveness programme of $10,000 has been rolled out to debtors who earn less than $125,000 (ish) per year. This was to take off immediate financial burdens reflecting the cost-of living crisis in the USA.

Kind regards and ngā mihi nui,

Debt Free Future Aotearoa

Contact:

Sam Blackmore, vp@students.org.nz

Ralph Zambrano, president@vuwsa.org.nz

List of signatories (alphabetical):

• Albany Students’ Association

• Auckland University of Technology Students’ Association

• Auckland University Students’ Association

• Disabled Students’ Association, Victoria University of Wellington

• Lincoln University Students’ Association

• Ngā Rangahautira, Māori Law Students’ Association, Victoria University of Wellington

• Ngāi Tauira, Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington, Maōri Students’

Association

• National Disabled Students’ Association

• Massey at Wellington Students’ Association

• Massey University Students’ Association

• Massey University Pasifika Students’ Association

• New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations

• Otago University Students’ Association

• Pasifika Students’ Council, Victoria University of Wellington

• Postgraduate Students’ Association of Victoria University of Wellington

• Student Association of Nelson-Marlborough Institute of Technology Incorporated

• Student Association of WINTEC

• STUDiO, Victoria University of Wellington

• University of Canterbury Students’ Association

• Tauira Pasifika

• Te Mana Ākonga

• Thursdays in Black Aotearoa

• UniQ Victoria

• Victoria University of Wellington Students’ Association

• Victoria University of Wellington Asian Law Students’ Association

• Victoria University of Wellington International Students’ Association

• Younited Students’ Association

Open Letter Regarding Universal Access to Lecture Recordings

To the Acting Vice-Chancellor Jennifer Windsor, Vice-Provost Academic Stuart Brock and the Provost Wendy Larner of Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington.

We are writing to call on you to guarantee universal access to lecture recordings for 2023 and beyond – all lectures should be recorded, available online for the entire course, to all its students. Our petition that has over 2000 signatories demonstrates a mandate for this.

VUWSA - Te Aka Tauira, the Students’ Assembly and Student Academic Committee advocate for and represent the 22,000 students studying at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington.

During the last two and half years, the University has emphasised universal access to lecture recordings as a part of the dual delivery mandate. However, some faculties, schools and courses have moved towards diminished lecture recording access. Hardship thresholds to access recordings are loaded with stigma, so students often choose not to disclose their struggles. Recordings being available for a limited time or with a delayed upload unfairly punish students who cannot attend live lectures, and are inconsistent with course structures that have week 12 assessments which require revision of all content.

Our asks

1. A policy commitment from Tri 1 2023 onwards: Universal access to lecture recordings - that all lectures are recorded and made available for the whole length of a course. The University must also make other necessary policy changes to accommodate this.

2. An initiative to seriously invest in resource and support for staff to develop high-quality online and blended learning to engage all students and ensure student success.

3. A requirement that courses build-in direct links to studyhub resources that support students’ online learning and study skills.

4. An urgent meeting with the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Provost and Vice Provost Academic to discuss all of the above.

READ THE FULL OPEN LETTER HERE.

Petition to Guarantee Students Universal Access to Lecture Recordings

VUWSA, the Students’ Assembly, Student Academic Committee and the National Disabled Students Association are asking Te Herenga Waka to guarantee in university policy from Tri One 2023 onwards: Universal access to lecture recordings - all lectures should be recorded, available online for the entire course, to all its students.  We will have an open letter on the VUWSA website soon with more details.

As students, we know that universal access to lecture recordings enables an accessible, future-focused education for all tauira. The University has a responsibility under the Pastoral Care Code to meet the needs of diverse learners. Barring students’ access to lecture recordings undermines their agency to choose how they engage with their education, forcing engagement in-person.   

As our University moves into a post-Pandemic era without a dual delivery mandate, universal access to lecture recordings is not guaranteed. We’ve seen movement at faculty, school and individual course levels that diminishes access to recordings. Hardship thresholds to access recordings, delaying upload of recordings, recordings being available for a limited amount of time are examples.

We know that the University is concerned about dwindling live lecture attendance and participation as an engagement issue. But barriers to accessing recordings will only disproportionately disadvantage the academic success of our marginalised students. Students who can regularly show up to their lectures in-person, over attending to employment or other commitments, tend to be the ones who are privileged enough to do so.

The University needs to acknowledge and respect that modern students aren’t just students anymore. We have multifaceted identities, experiences and obligations that mean we can’t attend every single live lecture. Many students would not be able to enrol, nor complete their degrees without lecture recordings.

In 2022, looking into a post-Pandemic era of learning and teaching, the University must move beyond this binary, fearful assumption of the availability of recordings equating a lack of in-person lecture attendance. In 2019, VUWSA’s Check the Rec campaign demonstrated that over 97% of THW-VUW students felt recordings made university studies more accessible and manageable. Students pay significant fees to study at Te Herenga Waka because they deserve inclusive, modern and high-quality learning and teaching practice which includes a variety of learning options, and cannot exclude lecture recordings. 

Universal access to lecture recordings is a cornerstone of accessible education. 

Sign our petition now, and share it with your mates.