The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations welcomes any funding boost to our universities. Additional funding cannot come soon enough with more jobs being lost every day; it plays its part in hurting the quality of education.
This pandemic has revealed many insights into the vulnerabilities at our universities, and we would like to see if Labour has a response to these endemic issues. The corporatisation of our universities is slowly diminishing the essence of what universities are about.
Universities are meant to be an environment that facilitates self-discovery in how to think. It is slowly turning into a technical school of what to learn. This pedagogy is changing, but we must always prioritise developing critical thinking skills in this competitive post-pandemic world.
“Proper funding is a symptom of the problem, not the root cause. Students have felt the conflicting interests at universities, and the quality of education has not been the priority,” says CAPA National President Errol Phuah.
“We don’t want universities to be punished, but we want to see policies that allow our universities to function as a university. – Because universities play an integral role in our democratic societies.”
This nation promotes and defends democracy as part of its foreign policies. Therefore we expect any future government to emphasise universities in their policy platform in this upcoming Federal Election.
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For comment:
CAPA National President Errol Phuah
M: 0431 545 167
E: president@capa.edu.au
