The Otago University Students’ Association says the government’s new tertiary fund to help remove barriers to student success is "good", but it will only help solve one piece of "a much bigger puzzle".
"We need to see a long-term commitment to funding the increased costs such as this, at universities."
Last week, Education Minister Jan Tinetti announced a new fund, called Tūwhitia, to help remove barriers and improve opportunities for the most underserved tertiary students in New Zealand.
The government was reprioritising $10 million for Tūwhitia, which would co-invest with tertiary institutions to improve pass rates, participation and overall learning, she said.
"Some groups of students are statistically less likely to succeed in tertiary education, namely Māori, Pacific, disabled, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds and people who are the first in their family to attend tertiary education."
When a student started in tertiary education, there was very little monitoring of class attendance or of their individual achievement at that time, she said.
"It means these learners, who may require a bit more support, can be overlooked.
"This fund will help improve data collection and information gathering — which some tertiary providers already do — so that these students are picked up and supported before they’re at risk of dropping out," Ms Tinetti said.
The fund would also support tertiary institutions to take proactive action with students to address the barriers which were stopping them from succeeding, she said.
University of Otago academic acting deputy vice-chancellor Prof Phil Bremer welcomed the initiative.
"While we are still awaiting details of how it will operate, we look forward to accessing it to support the initiatives we already operate in this important space."
Mr Jane also said any additional funding for tertiary education was "a good thing".
With the university citing increased compliance costs as one of the reasons it was struggling financially, this funding would go a small way towards helping address that issue.
It would enable the university to divert funds away from those compliance costs, to departments that may otherwise be facing cuts, he said.
"However, this is certainly only one piece of a much bigger puzzle.
"Universities are still struggling, and this won’t save all the jobs and departments that are on the line.
"It too only helps universities to find the areas and students who are struggling — it doesn’t provide funding to actually support these students once they’ve been identified."
He would like to see increased support for students who were struggling in the present financial environment, Mr Jane said.
"These pressures are one of the key reasons students struggle academically, as they take on additional work to support themselves and their families.
"Identifying these students is the first step, but addressing their needs is the bigger and more important issue."
