Bootcamp for students ignores real funding problem

Media Release
22 April 2009

Bootcamp for tertiary students ignores real funding problem

It seems boot camps are not just for students who don’t want to be in education – they are also now for those who do. That’s the sentiment of TEU national secretary, Sharn Riggs, in response to a government proposal that school leavers be offered a gap year in the military to pay for their tertiary education.

“The government, rather than encouraging students into tertiary education study, is now telling them that they first need to spend a year in the territorials.”

“It’s outrageous that the government has seemingly given up on the widely accepted goal that tertiary education should be accessible to all on the basis of ability not wallet size. If the government really wants more people to study then why not pay for it directly rather than telling people they should first spend a year or so in the military.”

“No disrespect to the territorials – the professional work our armed forces do around the world is widely respected, but I am sure they have got better things to do than to babysit students who can’t afford the growing student fees that government encourages tertiary education institutions to charge.”

ENDS

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