New Zealand's ability to upskill its workers is being road-blocked because of a broken promise from Labour to reinstate postgraduate student allowances, a students' association says.
Photo: 123RF
This comes as new research from NZTech shows Covid-19 border restrictions are causing major shortages in those trained to fill complex digital technology jobs.
NZTech's Digital Skills Aotearoa survey found firms were not doing enough to upskill their staff, leaving a lack of experienced workers to fill complex digital technology roles.
New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA) national president Andrew Lessell said students were being unfairly punished for trying to advance their knowledge.
Labour campaigned in 2017 on returning the $240-a-week payments to postgraduate students after the previous National-led government pulled the financial aid in 2013.
Labour shelved any plans to re-introduce the allowance last year, with Education spokesman Chris Hipkins saying the party would instead focus on fees-free programmes and "targeting our additional tertiary education spending in areas that are critical for the country's economic recovery in the post-Covid environment".
Lessell said the system of university financial aid was "manifestly unjust".
"It means students have to go into appalling levels of poverty even to get a postgraduate qualification and for so many of them who already have huge student loans it's just not an option for them to go into study."
He said the focus of the education system needed to be on up-skilling New Zealanders following the pandemic.
"We should be building our digital literacy, building our knowledge base for the future careers New Zealand needs.
"The only way to do that is to ensure students can survive while they study," he said.
Covid accelerating digitalisation
NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller said the lack of highly trained people had created a huge demand for digital skills.
Graeme Muller - Tech NZ Photo: Tech NZ
"Covid has accelerated digitalisation globally, necessitating a mass upskilling of digital skills by the entire population," Muller said.
In 2019, more than 80 percent of skilled workers that were needed to fill jobs in the sector were brought in from overseas, he said.
"Without a digitally skilled labour force, New Zealand will be unable to harness digital technology opportunities and the broader digitalisation of the economy," he said.
He said the lack of digital skills in the workforce compounded with the scarcity of experienced professionals to fill demand in complex technology roles.
"The shift away from traditional office support positions, machine operators, factory workers and other low skill professions towards roles with requiring digital skills is accelerating."