The Government is continuing to sit on its hands as students struggle to pay rent due to delays with StudyLink.

“It is unacceptable that struggling students can’t eat and pay their rent because they can’t access their student loan or allowance,” said Labour’s tertiary spokesperson Shanan Halbert.

“With unemployment rapidly increasing, Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Universities Shane Reti both should have known that enrolments would increase but failed to ensure that support systems were in place.

“Students are now halfway through the semester and more than 14,000 have not been paid their student allowance. This is appalling.

“We said that job cuts to the back office were going to mean more paperwork flowing through to the frontline. Our students are feeling the brunt of this today.

“With no update in sight about Te Pūkenga and university funding still on the line with no reassurances from either Minister, I worry they’re going to drop the ball on a sector that supports hundreds of thousands into work.

“This is all in addition to a measly increase to the minimum wage which was well below inflation, power bills going up, and student loan interest rates increasing for those overseas.

“If we want our students to secure jobs, be in good health and have a place to live, we need to ensure our support systems are providing relief to those who need it now to achieve those things,” Shanan Halbert said.

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