Students Against Fees – Lessons from the Education Action Groups of the ‘90s
The story starts back in the 1980s. Up until 1979, tertiary education had been virtually free for all – overseas students and domestic students alike – with everyone paying the same “administration fee” of around $100 a year. In 1979, a $1,500 tuition fee was introduced for overseas students. The government said that this would help to fund more places for domestic students, and promised that domestic students would never have to pay. In reality, as per usual, attacks on migrants were the opening shots of a war on everyone.
Students Strike to Fight Austerity!
2026 may be seeing the birth of a new wave of student activism across Aotearoa. On 29 July, approximately 500 students struck and marched through the University of Otago campus to make themselves heard. The demonstrators called on the Government with four key demands: Fees-free education, funding above inflation, independent student unions, and universal student […]
Rising Fees, Declining Allowances, Climbing Debt: Aotearoa Student Struggles in the 1990s
We can learn much of value from the student struggles of the 1990s for the student struggles in the second half of the 2020s against high fees, inadequate provision of student allowances, and rising student debt. General Context – Rapid and Comprehensive Implementation of Neoliberalism The background to the big student struggles of the 1990s […]
Attacks on Education: Counting the Crimes
A Crisis in Achievement or a Crisis in Society? Is education in crisis? It certainly seems so. Those of us who are working in schools have had to deal with the cavalcade of changes. That includes curriculum changes, attendance requirements, burgeoning school rolls, new systems, and administrative tasks. On top of this, operational funding per […]
Protest Report: Ōtepoti – No Cuts to Fees Free!
The Spark Ignites in Ōtepoti On Thursday 28 May 2026, around 400 students marched through the University of Otago campus, down George Street, and to the Octagon, adorned with various flags, placards, and banners. As students recognise their strength in numbers, the spark of a student movement is igniting in Ōtepoti. After the progressive rise […]
Postering on Campus a Step Too Far? Student Politics in the Corporate University
On 20 May 2026, political student groups received an email from the University of Otago proctor Dave Scott, requesting that students only poster in allowed places, threatening legal action and financial compensation if billsticking continued. While seemingly an innocuous request for students to respect the Proctor Office’s Code of Conduct, Scott’s email betrays the thorough […]
The Neoliberal University Meets Spies and Big Tech
Universities in New Zealand today are well-known to be structurally underfunded, being handed funding shortfalls (in real terms) by consecutive governments. That puts these institutions in a precarious position: balancing staff, student, and alumni interests, while securing funds in a market-driven world. From neoclassical liberal grounding, to Keynesian economy-funded mass institutions, to the neoliberal university, […]
Safe Housing for All!
On Sunday 22 February , justice minister Paul Goldsmith announced plans to amend the Summary Offences Act, giving police further coercive powers against the homeless. The amendment would allow police to give 24-hour “move-on” orders to someone sleeping rough, begging, or being “disorderly, disruptive, threatening or intimidating.” Failing to comply would land any individual as […]
Anti-Māori Attacks on Education: Tracing the History
Papers released earlier this year have revealed the government’s plan to cut words in te Reo Māori from primary school curricula. According to a Ministry of Education report in August, te Reo Māori will now be effectively banned from any new books in the Ready to Read Phonics Plus (RtRPP) series for five-year-olds. This is […]
Hīkoi as Education
All kinds of ākonga – Māori, Pākehā, tauiwi – in and out of uniform were out in full on the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti on the streets of Wellington last week. The Hīkoi will be remembered as one of those events in history, which will be taught in our Aotearoa History lessons, and one as […]
