Our fifth sector group comments on the upcoming budget today at 9.30am - it’s NZUSA, covering the student viewpoint.

1. Vic’s Enrolment Shutdown Unsurprisingly, yesterday’s media was dominated by VUW’s decision to stop taking enrolments for the rest of 2010.
   • NZUSA said that the doors of opportunity had been slammed shut twice on students, at VUW and Otago (which put on enrolment caps on some courses), but pointed the finger mainly at a lack of Government investment.
   • TEU said that the government needs to open the door to students.
   • Gareth Hughes of the Greens lambasts the government, mainly for not planning for a baby blip flowing through to enrolments – funnily enough I thought enrolment pressures were mainly due to the recession.
   • Labour’s Maryan Street says that it’s the end of aspirations for a smart economy.
   • The Young Nationals are calling for enrolment caps to be lifted, by allowing universities to charge what they want, rather than being constrained by fee maxima;
   • NZPA brings together all the perspectives, with Steven Joyce dropping some hints of new places in the Budget. And an updated NZPA story has comment from the Maori Tertiary Students’ Association.
   • The Dominion Post brings in all the usual views, plus Business NZ, which is calling for a review of interest free loans - and has a dig at the value of sport science courses.
   • TVNZ had a 3 minute piece with comment by Pat Walsh (VUW VC), Derek McCormack (AUT & NZVCC Chair) and Steve Joyce plus a student locked out by VUW (who is apparently a Labour Party activist, but didn’t make any overt political attacks). TV3 had a 2 minute story covering much the same issues with Walsh, Joyce and NZUSA’s David Do.
   • RadioLIVE’s Marcus Lush had Pat Walsh and Steve Joyce on for a 9 minute story yesterday morning.
   • Radio NZ’s Checkpoint had a background story (3 min) and an interview with Steven Joyce (5 min).
     • In the background story, Derek McCormack said (at about 2 min): ”Everyone’s chocked right up at 103 or just over, and it’s very hard to accurately keep to that. There’s all sorts of imponderables and difficulties in tracking enrolments exactly and so there is no margin for error.” Well, yes, quite – if you took your enrolments over the limit last year, as 5/8 universities did, then it will be hard to keep them under this year, unless you actually…try to limit the enrolments that you are completely free to accept or not.
     • Even better than that quote was Mary Wilson of Radio NZ questioning Steven Joyce (about 1:30 in): “So middle-class parents and their students are simply going to have to live with these restrictions?” Because of course university is just a middle-class thing…
2. Budget Hints National is hinting at extra money for Youth Guarantee in the Budget. The main story highlights how our education spending/student in dollars on primary and secondary students is 21st or 23rd out of 28 countries, which is unsurprising, since we’re 25th by income.
3. Mining in National Parks This University of Waikato media release is an example of how to draw a very long bow – the intro suggests that there is an alternative to mining national parks, but its really about seeding clouds to increase water flow for hydro dams and irrigation (it’s dubbed “water mining”).
4. Lincoln-Telford Merger The Lincoln University and Telford Rural Polytechnic Councils will vote on a merger proposal by the end of the month, although the Minister will make the call in the end.
5. Student Causes A pro-life club has been allowed to affiliate to AUSA, after some silly rules were repealed, while OUSA will continue to oppose cannabis prohibition.
6. Agri-Food Massey University VC Steve Maharey is trying to position the Central North Island as the agri-food centre of the world.
7. Student Loans The Maxim Institute is calling for reform of student loans.