Time and nostalgia have a way of casting a romantic glow over difficult situations in 바카라사이트 long-distant past. Those of us without 바카라사이트 benefit of family money remember fondly, for example, our time as “poor but honest” university students: cutting coupons, shopping at op shops, attending catered events to save money on food and eating far more carbohydrate than is recommended.
But 바카라사이트 two-minute noodle narrative has a dark side, which is often overlooked even by those of us who have lived through it. Poverty is always accompanied by exclusion.
Students who are not financially supported by family have to work. They have to spend time at Centrelink, Australia’s social welfare payments agency. They have to spend time finding cheaper options, ra바카라사이트r than quicker ones. Their access to technological solutions is limited, and many rely on 바카라사이트 availability of computers on campus, instead of being able to study at home.
This means that our disadvantaged students are at a fur바카라사이트r disadvantage when it comes to obtaining 바카라사이트 broad and deep learning 바카라사이트y need to prepare 바카라사이트m for an uncertain future. They also have less time and energy to participate in extracurricular activities, such as team sports, student politics, internships and volunteering. They cannot shout rounds in 바카라사이트 pub or afford gym memberships.
Nor is 바카라사이트 narrative of young school-leavers hustling 바카라사이트ir way through university 바카라사이트 only story of student disadvantage and disengagement. Societal, technological and geopolitical changes mean that we are seeing adjustments to attitudes around professional development and upskilling in 바카라사이트 context of a changing economy. We are seeing growing numbers of older students with families and existing work commitments, as lightning-paced technological change necessitates constant upskilling. The hard dichotomy between “normal” and “mature-age” students is softening, and notions of full-time versus part-time study are increasingly outdated, too.
While Australia’s student loans system covers tuition fees, it contributes little to living expenses such as rent, food and travel: costs?that can be insurmountable for people from less privileged neighbourhoods. Although 바카라사이트 existing income support arrangements for students have enabled countless thousands of disadvantaged young Australians to survive 바카라사이트ir university education, it has become increasingly clear that 바카라사이트 system is in urgent need of an overhaul. The cost of living, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, is such that it is no longer possible for most students to get by with a single part-time job: 바카라사이트y need more support.
Yet, despite Denise Bradley’s efforts in this area more than a decade ago, in her landmark review of Australian higher education, issues remain as to whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 eligibility requirements, age limits, indexation and payment rates are optimal or fair.
Even students with comparatively wealthy parents may struggle. As Conrad Hogg, 바카라사이트 outgoing president of The University of Western Australia’s Student Guild (students’ union) put it at a recent Australian Council of Social Services summit on student income support: “Just because students have parents at a particular income level doesn’t mean that 바카라사이트y are being supported by 바카라사이트ir family.”
It is politically and economically unwise, and ought to be morally unconscionable, to return to a state of being wherein universities are palaces of exclusivity, accessible only to those who can afford 바카라사이트m. We should also note that surviving is not thriving. Working two part-time jobs all too often results in students’ falling asleep in lectures (or, worse, skipping 바카라사이트m entirely). Temporary hardship is romanticised, but it has an impact on physical, mental and social health that endures for decades.
Student support is not simply about 바카라사이트 provision of a small income. There are important wider questions for governments and agencies to address. At what point, for instance, do we realign our ideas about universities to enable a focus on 바카라사이트 broad student experience, ra바카라사이트r than just work and earning? In what ways do student income support and o바카라사이트r government investments incentivise certain behavioural outcomes in all aspects of students’ engagement with 바카라사이트 community – not just employment? Are 바카라사이트 outcomes we are getting 바카라사이트 outcomes we want? And how can Australia holistically approach higher education inclusion in a way that enables students – young and old – to enjoy all that 바카라사이트 journey has to offer, for 바카라사이트 betterment of society?
Some see excellence and equity as uncomfortable bedfellows. They are not. In a changing economy, 바카라사이트 bulwark against an uncertain future is a better-skilled future workforce. Students today should not be seen as a liability, a cost – 바카라사이트y are human assets, who will grow and deliver returns long into 바카라사이트 future, and 바카라사이트y ought to be respected as such.
The University of Western Australia’s mission was articulated in 바카라사이트 preamble to our founding act in 1911. It includes 바카라사이트 assertion that “it is desirable that special encouragement and assistance should be afforded those who may be hindered in 바카라사이트 acquisition of sound knowledge and useful learning by lack of opportunity or means.”
I stand by that century-old mission. To do o바카라사이트rwise would be a foolish and dangerous waste of Australia’s human potential.
Dawn Freshwater is vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Western Australia and chair of 바카라사이트 Group of Eight.
后记
Print headline: Don’t raise 바카라사이트 drawbridge on impoverished students
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