Photo: 123RF/ Matej Kastelic
They told the Education and Workforce Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation today that staff at some halls were poorly prepared to help students with sometimes harrowing situations.
The committee is considering pastoral care and residents rights in student accommodation following complaints about how some halls of residence handled last year s national pandemic lockdown.
The government introduced an interim code of practice for pastoral care of domestic students following the death of student Mason Pendrous in a hall of residence in 2019. He would have turned 21 today.
Canterbury University student Miriam Lindsay said there was not enough support when students in her hall of residence in Christchurch needed it last year.
Report from RNZ
Students and parents have urged MPs to regulate universities’ halls of residence and introduce minimum standards for pastoral care.
They told the Education and Workforce Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation yesterday that staff at some halls were poorly prepared to help students with sometimes harrowing situations.
The committee is considering pastoral care and residents’ rights in student accommodation following complaints about how some halls of residence handled last year’s national pandemic lockdown.
Victoria University of Wellington student Azaria Howell said the hall she lived in last year encouraged binge drinking, did not take medical events seriously, and ignored complaints about sexism and racism.
Source:Â First Union
If New Zealand is serious about building resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic and protecting our communities against future outbreaks, statutory sick leave allowances must increase and the Holidays Act must be amended to better protect workers rather than employers, FIRST Union said today.
This morning, the Education and Workforce Committee heard submissions on the Holidays (Increasing Sick Leave) Amendment Bill, and Tali Williams, Secretary for Retail and Finance, presented FIRST Unionâs argument.
âWhile we support many of the changes suggested in this Bill and the general intent to offer increased protections to individual workers, an increase to ten working days of sick leave only partially deals with the problem,â said Ms Williams.