The Conservative Party in the United Kingdom have recently made moves to strengthen the role students’ associations play in their tertiary education system.
Here in New Zealand we are faced with the painful irony that an equivalent Government is seeking to do the complete opposite.
By continuing to support the ACT Party’s radical and unnecessary Voluntary Student Membership (VSM) Bill it seems National just doesn’t think enough. Rather than listening to 98 per cent of submissions against the Bill (including over two-thirds of the written substantive submissions) and seeking a reasonable compromise that helps to lift the achievement of associations, they seem more comfortable jeopardising credible student representation and cost-effective services provided by many students’ associations across the country.
In a paper outlining reforms to the UK’s Higher Education system, Conservative Minister for Universities David Willetts praised the contributions that students’ association make by saying:
“Students’ unions are an important part of the civil society within higher education institutions.
Effective students’ unions are prime examples of organisations run for and by their members. They can help greatly in improving dialogue and facilitating stronger partnerships between higher education institutions and their students… Students’ unions also play an important role in the pastoral care of students…These roles will become more important in the future.”
Even a Government that triples tuition fees and carries out massive public service cuts still recognises the importance of putting students at the heart of the system.
That’s because student representation supported by strong students’ associations is a critical component of university decision-making and well-resourced representatives contribute significantly to the development of policy and strategy. They also keep institutions like Victoria accountable to their most important stakeholders—you, the students. Students and institutions will both lose out under VSM.
In its current form, the ACT Party’s Bill is bad for students, bad for students’ associations, bad for tertiary institutions and bad for the broader tertiary education sector. Students’ associations are open to improving and enhancing the current law, which lets students—not politicians—choose how to organise themselves on campus.
A practical and pragmatic solution to association membership is needed to put the issue to rest once and for all—this is the third incarnation of such a Bill in a decade. We need to work together to ensure the best outcomes for students. There are fairer, more enduring alternatives to this Bill that ensures students continue to get the best possible services, representation and campus experiences possible.
National should drop its support for ACT’s destructive and unnecessary Bill. The students of today and tomorrow deserve to enjoy the benefits and services of students’ associations, just as their predecessors did.
You can find out more about valuing our voice and other issues facing our education at
demandabetterfuture.org.nz.
Have a great week.
Seamus Brady