Varsities no longer hotbed for student activism

campus life is in decline and changes need to be made if sporting, cultural and student organisations are to survive

Recently ditched Johnny H. rightly told the varsities to adopt a user-pays scheme back in 2005 and now they reckon they are short by AU$167M. Using the sport and cultural line that they are needed, truth is that it is more likely the unions bleating about having no pre-paid membership to work on. Any reduction in student activism can only be a good thing, after all students are there to learn.

The newly installed Kevni has been helping his union mates and recently called for an inquiry. 90% of submissions call for re-instatement of compulsory student union fees.

Any move to user-pays has to be good - if students want extra curricular support services, they should pay for it up front in fees, not in some rort fostering compulsory unionism.

I wonder how much of the NZ$10B student loans in NZ are to support the compulsory student unions we have in our tertiary establishments? Why are student unions still compulsory in NZ?