A-Dub 🥝the conservative coalition government of New Zealand will eliminate extra funding for Māori and Pacific enrolments in post-secondary vocational courses, and cut back funding for workplace training
this is undeniably true. the conservative coalition government of NZ is deliberately weakening our universities.
"Universities will be weakened by Budget focus on STEM and science - professor"
in another life this could've been me.
"As the [New Zealand] government chases billions in unpaid student debt, new funding has empowered Inland Revenue to get tough on debtors overseas and at home"
fuck you, Parmjeet Parmar. 🖕🏻
NZ TEC to tertiary institutions: "Total funding available for Vote Tertiary Education will be limited and we will need to reprioritise our investment in a fiscally constrained environment. This will mean disinvesting from lower-performing and/or some non-priority provision to ensure funding is directed towards the government's priority areas."
i am willing to bet bigly that ACT Party leader David Seymour has his eye on eliminating the statutory role of NZ universities to be a "critic and conscience of society" (Education Act 1989, sec.62 (4)(a)(v))
fucking dangerous. #nzpol #nzpse
"The coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly "risk-averse approach" to free speech.
The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues.
Each university will then have to adopt a "freedom of speech statement" consistent with the central government's expectations.
The changes will also prohibit tertiary institutions from adopting positions on issues that do not relate to their core functions."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/537143/government-to-change-free-speech-rules-for-universities
Last week in Aotearoa, the social sciences and humanities panels for the Marsden Fund were dismantled.
Matthew Scobie ... and Anna Sturman are two social science researchers. They’re concerned about the short- and long-term impacts of gutting critical scholarship in Aotearoa’s already small and under-funded research system.
And they’re worried the decision sends a signal about more changes to come for science, research, and the tertiary sector.
https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/we-underestimated-the-scale-of-the-attack/
We underestimated the scale of the attack | E-Tangata
“While we underestimated the coalition’s willingness to sacrifice life for profit, we also believe that the government has underestimated how potent a coalition of shared interests to defend Te Tiriti can be.” — Matthew Scobie and Anna Sturman.
The New Zealand government’s decision this week to stop funding research in the humanities and social sciences, through the Marsden Fund, will cost us more than we gain, argues Dr Pounamu Jade Aikman. https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/we-dismiss-the-fluffy-stuff-at-our-peril/ #NZPSE #NZpol
a former Marsden Fund Chair and former Prime Minister's Science Advisor is scathing about the politically motivated dropping of the humanities and social sciences from subject areas Marsden covers: https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/04-12-2024/juliet-gerrard-funding-the-whole-pie #NZPSE #MarsdenFund #Research
