Thursday, 20 May 2021, 3:30 pm
The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA)
believes that Budget 2021 is a missed opportunity to support
all students in Aotearoa. The reintroduction of the Training
Incentive Allowance will aid 16,000 students who have,
historically, been failed. However, NZUSA National President
Andrew Lessells says that many have missed out as
“postgrad and mature students are still expected to live
on food parcels”.
While the Student Allowance will
increase by $25 in 2022, this does not keep track with main
benefit increases. Lessells says “students facing hardship
have yet again been forgotten. Students deserve better than
being treated as second class citizens forced to borrow to
Thursday, 20 May 2021, 2:03 pm
The Government is supporting 16,000 people to retrain,
gain higher skills and transition into new careers by
bringing back the Training Incentive
Allowance.
“This is an investment in people and will
mean better skills, qualifications, jobs, incomes and
lives,” Carmel Sepuloni said.
“The impacts of
COVID-19 mean reinstating the Training Incentive Allowance
for higher-skill courses is more important than ever. We
need to grow the skills of New Zealanders to fill the needs
of employers and this allowance will be a vital tool we can
use to do just that.
“We are already seeing record
numbers of job seekers moving into employment. Bringing back
Thursday, 20 May 2021, 3:54 pm
E tū is celebrating the release of Budget 2021 today,
which makes significant moves to improve the lives of
Aotearoa’s workers and their communities.
In
particular, E tū applauds the plan for an ACC-style
‘social insurance’ scheme, which would give workers
income protection if they lose their jobs.
E tū
Assistant National Secretary Annie Newman says it’s great
that the Government are prioritising the idea, which was in
the Labour Party’s 2020 election
manifesto.
“COVID-19 reminded us again how important
it is to support people as they move in and out of work,”
Annie says.
“Losing an income, even for a short
Budget 2021: Education - small increases for schools, early childhood, more for school buildings
(Photo / 123RF)
EDUCATION: KEY POINTS
• $25 a week boost in student allowances from April 2022
• Training Incentive Allowance fully reinstated for single parents, disabled people
• Tertiary funding: increase for vocational education to close the funding gap with universities.
Schools and early childhood centres will get only small increases to their day-to-day funding, but the Budget allocates a one-off package of $53 million for school property upgrades - and $634 million to build new schools and classrooms.
The education budget s $1.4 billion operating package delivers a small 1.2 per cent increase in funding rates for early childhood providers ($110.7 million), and a 1.6 per cent increase to the operational grants of schools ($90 million).