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July 30, 2003
a part time uni
The Australian Financial Review has an article on the way students are juggling debts and studies. (no link, 30 July, p. 53)
The debt incurred in paying for their courses under the HECS scheme is reshaping their time at university. They spend less time on campus and more in paid work (permanent part-time work). Consequently, they cram rather than study, and they find themselves exploited by employers by being forced to work overtime or lose their jobs. They find that there is a decline in students services, increasing difficulties in accessing teaching staff, overflowing lectures snd tutorials ands poor library facilities.
Hence we have a disengagement by students from university life in order to chase the dollar to pay the debt and ensure they have the work experience to land a job after graduation. So they fail to turn up to classes and get their work done on time. Theyare enrolled in full time courses but are actually part-time students.
The tensions will only increase as universities keep raising fees. So tomorrow's graduates will be taking on a even bigger HECS debt than their predecessors, and so postpone buying a home and starting a family.
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at July 30, 2003 02:04 PM
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