Fees deal irks tertiary sector

By BRONWYN SELL and REBECCA WALSH education reporters

Tertiary institutions will probably lose money by taking up the Government's offer of a 2.3 per cent funding increase in exchange for freezing fees.

The deal has been presented in the Budget as an option, though institutions may have little choice but to accept it. If they reject it and make up the shortfall by raising fees, they could risk putting the Government offside and losing students to cheaper institutions.

Students' associations welcome the Government's intentions, but are worried that institutions will reject the deal and fees will go up again.

The deal is worth $30.5 million next year, part of a $300 million education funding boost in the year beginning July 1.

Three out of four schools are in line for a lot more money, but the rest will lose the extra they gained through bulk-funding. These are mostly large schools in wealthy, urban areas.

For the others, the big increases are in property and operations grants, which they can use for anything except teacher salaries.

Up to $2 million will go into homework centres next year, in primary and intermediate schools in poorer areas.

Mountain View Primary School co-principal Kataraina Wetere said the centres would help to target education needs in poorer areas, but she stressed there would need to be adequate resourcing and staffing. The Mangere Bridge school has run for a year an after-school programme, which includes homework. It is financed mainly by parents and has some Government funding.

"Some of our children come from homes that they share with the wider family and so quiet space can be a problem for them."

In the tertiary sector, the Government is unable to freeze fees, which are set by each institution's council. Instead, Labour and the Alliance, who promised before the election to eventually reduce fees, are using the funding increase as an indirect means.

Tertiary institutions were consulted on the deal in a series of secret pre-Budget meetings with Tertiary Education Minister Steve Maharey, but yesterday most the Herald spoke to acknowledged it would be difficult to reject the deal.

The extra money National gave to bulk-funded schools ($45 million) will be split between all schools in the next calendar year.

There will be a one-off $166 million fund to upgrade school property and meet roll growth.

An extra 53 literacy teachers will be employed and early childhood centres will share an extra $10 million.

Apprenticeship and industry training will receive an extra $11 million next year.

Budget 2000 feature

Minister's budget statement

Budget speech