25pc fewer students on Government allowances

The number of students getting a Government allowance has dropped by almost a quarter in four years - despite Labour's Budget promise of 36,000 more allowances this year.

Figures published by the Aotearoa Student Press Association show that only 40,434 students received an allowance in the first quarter of this year, compared with 52,465 in 2001. The 2005 figure is also down 3000 on the same period last year.

In Budget 2004, the Government increased both the upper and lower parental income limits for allowances for single students under 25 to increase eligibility.

But University Students' Association co-president Andrew Kirton said the Government was failing to deliver on its promise and thousands of students had been forced to borrow from the loan scheme to get by.

Fellow co-president Camilla Belich said that if students earned more than $108 after tax in part-time work, they lost their allowance.

"This amount is far too low and needs to be raised to reflect the actual cost of living for students."

The association called for a universal living allowance so "everyone is clear on what they are entitled to".

Bill English, National's education spokesman, said either students did not know what they were entitled to, or Labour had pulled a "con job" by promising a package they knew students would not qualify for.

Labour had saved $30 million by dropping the Independent Circumstances Allowance for students who had been in the workforce two years.

"Student groups, which stayed silent while the Independent Circumstances Allowance was taken away, now know Labour was doing a deal with them in bad faith. Students have been cheated by a duplicitous Government," Mr English said.

Greens education spokesman Nandor Tanczos said the figures contradicted the Government's claim that it had made it easier for students to get allowances. About half the$7 billion owing in student debtwas attributable to money that had been borrowed for living costs.

"That's why getting the student allowance system right is such a vital part of tertiary education policy."

The Greens backed a universal student allowance for all fulltime students, set at the same level as the unemployment benefit, he said.

But Minister of Education Trevor Mallard rejected claims that allowances were not accessible, instead blaming a strong economy and fewer tertiary enrolments for the drop in students taking up the allowance.

"As a result of the stronger economy and strong employment market we believe that more students have moved straight from school to work."

There had also been a shift to part-time study, and the strong economy meant parents earned more so fewer students were eligible for allowances based on their parents' incomes.