The Association of University Staff (AUS) has accused the National Party of undermining the provision of public tertiary education in response to the Party’s recent statement that private training providers should receive the same level of funding as public sector institutions.
According to AUS general secretary Nanette Cormack, National Party’s tertiary education spokesperson, Paul Hutchison, has complained that private training institutions do not receive public funding to provide real estate courses where similar courses are already being successfully provided by polytechnics.
Cormack said that Huchison’s suggestion that public and private tertiary education providers should compete against each other for funding to offer the same or similar courses revealed the Party’s plans to return the sector to a freefor- all competitive environment.
“Dr Hutchison clearly wants to return to the uncontrolled, wasteful, and deregulated practices of the past; that he is championing the public funding of private real-estate courses, particularly at a time when the real estate market has stagnated, simply serves to illustrate that the National Party cares more about its private sector friends than in the quality and relevance of tertiary education,” Cormack said.
“Considerable time and effort have been spent over the last few years developing a tertiary education strategy that is responsive to the economic and social goals and needs of the country, and to ensure that the component parts of the sector complement rather than unnecessarily compete against each other.”