Government faces legal case on loans

By AIDEN TAIPETI

The Human Rights Commission will investigate a claim that New Zealand's student loan scheme may discriminate against women.

The University Students Association has brought the case because women take twice as long as men to repay the debts.

Male students take 13 years on average and women 26 years, according to Ministry of Education figures.

The commission yesterday confirmed it had reviewed the complaint and decided it should go for mediation. The commission has referred the matter to the Crown Law Office, which will review the claim and make recommendations to the Government.

A spokeswoman for the commission said that as far as she knew, this was the first case of its kind to be considered for mediation.

Camilla Belich, the association's National Women's Rights Officer, said: "The claim is set to prove what New Zealanders have known for a decade - that the student loan scheme is unfair to women.

"By taking twice as long as men on average to repay student loans, women are paying thousands of dollars more for their qualifications in interest payments."

The association said there may be many factors, such as time out from the workforce for maternity leave or child care.

Other factors may include the small value put on volunteer work (especially work in areas traditionally assigned to women) and "gender segregation" in industry.

Ms Belich said the association hoped the claim would result in fair and equitable education.

Despite having to wait for the Government's response, the students' association was pleased with the commission's speedy response.

Green MP Nandor Tanczos said the scheme was inherently unfair.

"The fact that the Human Rights Commission has chosen to hear this claim should send a very strong message to the Government that student loans entrench discrimination and inequality in education."

A further indictment was the release yesterday of a report which showed that only 6.6 per cent of participants in the Government's much-vaunted modern apprenticeships scheme were women.

"The Government has poured millions of dollars into modern apprenticeships, which is essentially free education to those involved.

"It seems strange that a Government committed to ending disparity has introduced an apprenticeship scheme that further compounds inequality, while refusing to budge on student loans with their massive impacts on women, Maori and Pacific Island students."