An Obituary for Fees Free
This piece features the author’s opinion.
When I saw the headlines about the end of fees free, I was filled with rage. Not for myself -- I got my fees free back when I started Uni -- but at the philosophy that seemed to underpin it. Another shortsighted selfish government policy designed to keep the poor poor, freeze social mobility and widen income inequality. Luxon phrased this rollback to the press as “far better payback for our money, and we'll pay far less money” as if fees free was charity and not a long-term investment in the future of our country. As if improving the outlook for our young people was not as worthwhile as catering to international investors. As if it was a Pak n’ Save boxing day sale and not the future of our democracy. This government seems to forget it is supposed to serve people and not businesses. That the young are people even if they don’t vote National.
UNESCO describe education as a common good. An educated population benefits everyone except for fear-mongering conservative politicians, generally. I know I’m writing to a biased audience, that I chose to send this essay to a university newspaper, but it was better than screaming into the void and writing another unanswered letter.
In choosing to end fees free this government is taking the oppurtunity to start university from the poorest people in our society. It is adding risk, as it did when it moved fees free to the final year from the first, and discouraging higher education despite ample proof it is a gateway to social mobility and is still a way into the middle class. Luxon claims these funds will be moved to fund trade training, and while that is valuable, it is still cutting off potential social mobility and trapping those who can least afford to pay for university in lower paying and often more dangerous work.
In repeatedly choosing prioities that worsen income inequality, this government is damaging our future. OECD data clearly demonstrates “inequality has a negative impact on economic growth.” Policies that worsen that inequality, like this one, are shortsighted. Education is a fundamental human right and higher education is becoming more and more necessary in an increasingly complicated world while simultaneously being pushed further out of reach by policy makers.
I make the economic argument because I believe it is what this government would best understand and will leave the argument that education is intrincsically valuable for philosphers and poets to puzzle over. Learning for learnings sake has been destroyed by rote testing in secondary school. University was the place to discover a love for the pursuit of knowledge, which is inherently valuable. Instead, I make the economic argument that a university degree opens doors and leads to further opportunities and argue that is being cut off and made risky by this government. I believe they are sabotaging the future and placing the entire country in a more fragile position for short term savings.
Illustration by Aleise McGrath.