Auckland University students have declared a Nationwide Day of Student Action to protest against cuts to education including the the ACT Party’s Voluntary Student Membership bill, which they say is “the greatest attack on student power in decades.”
Spokesperson Guy Cohn says students are “under attack from their own administrations and governments” and need to regain control of the institutions they attend.
In addition to voluntary student association membership, Auckland students will be protesting against University Vice Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon, who Mr Cohn says “is undertaking a protracted campaign to remove power from the hands of academics and students”.
The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) has voiced concerns about Government draft directions on student levies, which NZUSA co-president Max Hardy says places the availability of support services in jeopardy.
Services usually funded by students’ associations – including food banks, sports and clubs, and representation for groups of students such as UniQ and Pasifika student councils – are not covered by the new direction for the levies.
In conjunction with Voluntary Student Membership, which will affect the amount of resources available to student associations, Mr Hardy says this will strip funding from the services.
“It appears that in conjunction with the ACT Party’s Bill, this Government is determined to deliberately extinguish and silence the student voice and representation at our public tertiary institutions by removing the very mechanisms for ensuring their survival,” Mr Hardy says.
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