Education Debate Sticks To Script

The Age

Friday November 16, 2007

Farrah Tomazin, Education Editor

FEDERAL Labor has no further election plans to reduce soaring debt for university students - despite conceding that HECS costs have almost reached a "tipping point" in Australia.

As education continued to dominate the second-last week of the campaign, Opposition education spokesman Stephen Smith yesterday said Labor's desire to be more economically responsible meant it would not be unveiling any new policies to reduce the growing debt burden for students.

The admission came after Labor leader Kevin Rudd declared earlier this year that student debt had become a "national disgrace" - and despite Mr Smith's own view that paying back the cost of HECS degrees could soon deter students from attending university.

"We are very close to being at a tipping point in terms of HECS becoming a disincentive," said Mr Smith, speaking at yesterday's education debate against Federal Minister Julie Bishop.

"We have been looking carefully at other targeted HECS arrangements and we certainly have this on our list. But given that we made a point that we want to balance our financial commitments with being responsible . . . we're going to take our time to do things."

Labor this year announced it would slash the cost of a three-year degree in maths or science from $21,300 to $12,000 in a bid to reverse the decline in these important areas.

University graduates who then go on to teach maths or science, or work in the field, would have their HECS bills reduced further under the $111 million plan.

However, Mr Smith said yesterday that Labor had no other plans at this stage to reduce HECS costs, which have almost tripled over the past 10 years.

In other developments in yesterday's debate:

? Julie Bishop defended the Coalition's decision to give tax rebates to all families for education expenses regardless of their income, despite criticism from the public schools lobby that $6 billion policy would "further privilege the already privileged".

? Mr Smith reiterated that Labor would abolish full-fee-paying places for domestic undergraduate students, but did not explain how a Rudd government would compensate universities for the cost of phasing out full-fee degrees.

? In defending the Coalition's funding of universities, Ms Bishop said state governments ought to take greater responsibility for higher education funding.

Student debt has been a growing problem in Australia, with a recent study finding that the number of students who take out a loan to survive their degree has more than doubled in six years, while student debt has skyrocketed by $2 billion a year following a 25% rise in HECS.

But Ms Bishop said research showed HECS debts did not deter students from enrolling into universities, and that Australian students had the highest percentage of student support in the OECD nations.

Democrats higher education spokeswoman Natasha Stott Despoja said the minister's view was "incredibly short-sighted".

"If students are coming out of university with mountainous debt, it immediately puts them on the back foot for other significant purchases in life," she said.

© 2007 The Age

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