Education - Student Assistance
Not set out on their website.
Introduce a debt write-off scheme: each year the person stays in Aotearoa and contributes through paid or unpaid full time work, a year's worth of debt will be wiped Establishing a universal student allowance, at the level of the unemployment benefit, for all full-time students Work towards establishing a public ‘fee-free’ tertiary education system Education should be learner centred, equitable, responsive, diverse, innovative, socially responsible, ecologically aware, publicly accountable and of high quality
Labour has already announced plans to widen student allowance eligibility in 2009, by raising to $50,000 the parental income threshold where allowance payments begin to reduce, and lowering the age of financial independence from twenty-five to twenty-four We will continue to extend eligibility in 2010 and 2011 and abolish the parental income test altogether in 2012 From 1 January 2010, the threshold will increase to $70,000 From 1 January 2011, the threshold will increase again to $100,000 From 1 January 2012, the parental income test will be abolished altogether
Introduce the first step towards a universal student allowance and proceed over three years to full implementation by progressively increasing the family income levels at which the abatement commences and when allowances disappear Set interest rates on student loans at Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 2% Only charge interest (whilst the student is engaged in study) at a rate equal to the CPI Introduce a system that encourages graduates to provide a professional service for areas of New Zealand that suffer from a shortage of such services by way of fees abatement
Promote a universal living allowance for tertiary students Ensure that students are able to cover the basics of living by increasing the accommodation supplement Adjust the accommodation supplement to account for regional differences in the cost of living Ensure all tertiary students unable to find work over the summer period have access to the Emergency Unemployment Benefit