Student Loans Scheme
December 28th, 2004 at 5:57 pm by David FarrarThere is an excellent article by Norman LaRocque in the NZ Herald.
He notes Te Mana Akonga has argued that the student loan scheme is having devastating effects by acting as a barrier to tertiary education participation and “fencing Maori out of better-paying jobs”.
Norman then points out the gap between rhetoric and reality, specifically:
* Maori students enrolled in formal tertiary education almost doubled between 1997 and 2003.
* The number of Maori completing qualifications in tertiary education almost doubled between 1997 and 2001.
* The number of Maori industry trainees grew by 60 per cent between December 2000 and June this year.
* The number of Maori students enrolled in private training establishments rose by 60 per cent between 1999 and 2003.
* Research has shown that the income returns to educational investments for Maori exceed those of non-Maori at all levels of education.
* The Maori unemployment rate, though still high relative to non-Maori, has dropped from more than 25 per cent in 1992 to 8.3 per cent.
* number of Maori in highly skilled employment grew by nearly 120 per cent between 1992 and 2003 – more than three times the growth in highly skilled non-Maori employment.
A very good demolition job which deals with the hysteria of Te Mana Akonga. Incvidentially I noted back in April that the percentage of Maori in tertiary education not only now matched non-Maori, but was almost twice the rate.
No tag for this post.
December 28th, 2004 at 9:37 pm
I do recall a few years ago walking into the University of Waikato just as students were going to their lecture rooms. I was surprised at the number of Maori faces.
I think it is great to see Maori getting ahead. It makes a change from the moaning and whingeing from some quarters about how badly Maori are done by.
Vote:December 29th, 2004 at 7:20 am
We have spent years trying to get maori to improve its skill base. However the welfare lifestyle remains very attractive especially for those that wish to have children. I hope the loan scheme is causing people to seriously re-think whether a University education is really worthwhile. Unless you are an “A” student frankly I think getting a “pass” degree is not worth the paper it is written on.
Vote:December 29th, 2004 at 4:40 pm
This is all very interesting David. I believe one Maori University increased its pupil number from 2000 to 38,000. I trust you also read the piece in the same paper by Elspeth (surname forgotten} titled ‘Now you can be any ethnicity you choose.’ In my view her article placed that of Mr LaRocque in a clearer perspective
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