Otago student leaders are joining a people’s inquiry for student wellbeing.
Green Party tertiary spokeswoman Chloe Swarbrick launched the initiative yesterday at Victoria University of Wellington’s Pipitea campus.
The inquiry will gather information about issues with student welfare to encourage better policies.
The research survey is being conducted by Point Research in association with the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations, and 36 other students’ associations from around the country.
Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) president Melissa Lama said the organisation’s leadership had decided to endorse the inquiry because things were tough for students.
Students had been hit hard by Covid-19, with many losing income from the part time jobs they needed to survive.
The profile of students was not the same as it had once been and better data was needed to deliver support across a range of different situations and circumstances.
High-needs groups, such as students from disabled, Maori, Pasifika or refugee communities, often got lost in blanket approaches from government, Ms Lama said.
Ms Swarbrick said she had been advocating for students for the past five years, but "enough is enough".
The Labour Party’s promises to restore postgraduate student allowances and to extend fees-free study had been one of the first things on the chopping block when Covid-19 hit in 2020, she said.
She was hugely disappointed students had been put on the backburner despite thousands being given directly to businesses through a high-trust model and the presence of former student association presidents on the Government’s front bench.
Her office had heard many stories of degrading and invasive treatment from tertiary institution-administered, state-funded hardship funds.
Because students usually only studied for three or four years, policymakers tended to not realise how bad things were.
It was difficult for student voices to make the case for fundamental transformation of support systems as they presently existed.
A lot of that was due to the impact of the voluntary student membership Bill which passed in 2011, ending automatic membership of students’ associations.
That law change meant students’ associations now had to spend a huge amount of time and effort on fundraising so they could perform their basic functions, she said.
There would be full transparency about the data collection in the inquiry, she said.
