By Tova O’Brien
The Labour Party says the economy could suffer if planned restrictions to university enrolments are enforced.
There are currently two tertiary education reviews underway, re-evaluating who should be able to get in.
“We are continuing to grow the availability of university education, but there is quite a lot of demand and it is very expensive with interest free student loans,” says Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce.
“It’s important for us to maximise the potential for all our students to exceed while they’re at university.”
The Tertiary Education Commission has suggested that Maori, Pacific Islanders and younger people should be prioritised for enrolment.
“Not everyone when they leave school knows that they want to go on to tertiary study,” says Labour Tertiary Education spokesperson Grant Robertson.
But he says those students are just as important as any other.
“For students, that could shut off a path to them achieving their potential and for New Zealand it may mean that we won’t be as constructive an economy as we should be.”
All students over 20 could be restricted, but Mr Joyce believes only the 2000 without a university qualification would be affected.
“Overall the universities are being encouraged and are focussing on people who have the best chance of success academically, our other performance-based measures both for institutions and for students will continue to encourage that as well,” says Mr Joyce.
The Ministry of Education is also undertaking a review which could see university entrance standards toughened.
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