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Students' Poor Plight
Illawarra Mercury
Friday March 9, 2007
FORTY per cent of university students say their education is suffering due to their paid work commitments, according to a report just released.
The Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee (AVCC) report details a survey of 19,000 students in 2006 that found more were financially worse off than their counterparts in 2000.Chair of the AVCC Survey Steering Group Professor Alan Robson said it was now time for the Federal Government to act."Students are working long hours to support their time at university," he said. "Almost a quarter of full-time undergraduates reported that they regularly missed classes or other study commitments to attend paid employment. The proportion (of students) that are worried about their financial situation and the number of hours they worked during the semester went up."The report said one quarter of students obtained a loan in 2006, up from 10 per cent of students in 2000. The proportion of students receiving government assistance also dropped from almost 39 per cent in 2000 to 35 per cent in 2006.Prof Robson said increasing work commitments were leading to "commuter students" who only came to university to study and did not take part in campus activities and sport.The abolition of compulsory student union fees had contributed to the financial stress as student associations now had less money to support students in need, he said.University of Wollongong Vice-Chancellor Gerard Sutton said the findings reflected the financial situation faced by Illawarra students.Prof Sutton said the university had set aside $3 million to help students struggling with last year's Higher Education Contribution Scheme increase."It's administered very carefully but it won't be enough to address all the problems identified in the report," he said."This is a situation which is beyond the financial capacity of individual universities."The Government must address it according to the recommendations in the report."Prof Robson said the AVCC would use the findings of the survey to work with the Government to ensure students had appropriate income support.
© 2007 Illawarra Mercury
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