VC joins student debate on education reforms

Around 300 students have questioned Vice-Chancellor Ian Young, local senators and economists Bruce Chapman and Phil Lewis at a special forum to debate the Government’s higher education reforms.

Organised by the student newspaper Woroni, the debate included University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Stephen Parker, ANUSA President Cam Wilson, Liberal Senator Zed Seselja and ALP Senator Kate Lundy.

The panel represented all sides of the debate, with Professor Young broadly in favour of the reforms and Professor Parker and Senator Lundy opposed to the changes.

Professor Young used the debate to call for a change to the proposed cap on domestic student contributions, and for the Government to rethink its plan to charge interest on student debts.

Under the Government plan, the contribution cap is set at the amount an institution can charge international students.

Professor Young said the cap should also include the Government’s contribution.

“The proposal, as it now stands, caps the amount which universities can charge at the international fee. An institution that decided to charge such a student fee would receive both the fee and the Commonwealth contribution. Surely, such a position is not morally defensible,” he said.

“Rather, this cap should be that the total revenue received by the institution (student fee plus Commonwealth contribution) should not exceed the international fee.

“Such a change, originally proposed by Chancellor Gareth Evans and myself before the budget, would go a long way to address concerns about fee gouging.”

Professor Chapman, who designed the HECS student loan scheme, urged the Government to make sure total student debt never reaches the full cost of a course.

Video of the debate is available on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYPnKyd6CVY

For more on the Vice-Chancellor’s comments, see his blog at http://vcdesk.anu.edu.au/.