14 May 2009 - Investment in tertiary education must be part of the government's response to the financial crisis, says TEU president Dr Tom Ryan.

Finance minister Bill English stated in parliament yesterday that he intends to cut tertiary education commitments in order to fund the probation service and corrections service. He then confirmed his intention this morning on National Radio's Morning Report:

"Tertiary education is one area where the previous government has made some very large commitments against future budgets where they haven't actually allocated the money. And we've signalled that we're not going to be able to keep those commitments and don't intend to," said Mr English.

Dr Ryan criticised the minister, saying for the sake of students and ordinary working people facing the recession, he needs to reconsider.

"The message Mr English's statement sends to students and potential students is that there will be space in prisons but not in polytechnics, wānanga and universities. Tertiary education can help working families learn their way out of a recession that they didn't create, but we need realistic investment to make that happen."