Labour’s proposed policy excites students
Students are welcoming Labour’s policy which will decrease student loans, with open arms.
The Labour Party’s recently proposed policy that would aim to decrease student debt has been welcomed by Wintec students.
The policy would allow graduates the opportunity to decrease their student loan, in exchange for public service work in regions that don’t have enough qualified people to fill jobs.
Ethan Lankshear, 18, an engineering student from Gisborne, says the policy would benefit students nation-wide.
“I think there will be a lot more students going to study, especially those from smaller towns, because it’s close to home, so they’ll probably get a job” he said.
Ethan’s student loan is currently $11,000 and could increase to $80,000 by the end of his degree, but he said he isn’t too worried about having to pay it back.
Deanna Moratti, 18, studies a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy degree and believes the policy would be “amazing”.
Her student loan is currently $6800 and would come to $21,000 at the end of her degree.
“Student loans are stressful, so I think the policy would make it easier for the ones that have a huge debt and are struggling to pay it off.”
When asked if they would be willing to work anywhere in order to benefit from the policy, Deanna said she wouldn’t mind.
“It would be all good. A job’s a job,” she said.
Ethan, however, was more sceptical.
“It would really depend on the job and the skills I could gain from it,” he said.
Collectively there is nearly $15 billion of student loan debt owed, a statistic both Ethan and Deanna were shocked by.
“That is a crazy amount of money. I know a lot of people in their late 30s that are still paying off their student loan,” said Ethan.
“It’s crazy to think we’re spending so much on an education,” said Deanna.
Both students said that the policy could persuade them to vote for the Labour Party.
“It sounds good, but I would want to see the other policies they bring out” said Ethan.
Labour Party leader Andrew Little revealed that a final version of the policy will likely be announced at the beginning of 2017.
