By Zanny Begg
The final report of the federal government's review of higher education was released on April 17. The review committee, chaired by Roderick West, was launched last year to recommend policy options for the next 20 years. The final report firmly supports the further privatisation and deregulation of post-secondary education.
A chief recommendation is that the government move towards a voucher-based funding system in which each student would be given a "learning account" that could be spent at any university, public or private, in Australia or overseas.
The system, the report claims, would provide students with greater choice and flexibility. The report alleges that "many of the practices in Australian higher education would not have survived in an open market — students would have voted with their feet long ago".
According to this logic, vouchers would make the university system more responsive to the needs of students by tying funding more closely to student numbers and the popularity of certain universities and courses.
The key impetus for a voucher system is the failure of the government's attempt to implement up-front fees. Despite changes in government regulations allowing such fees for over-quota domestic undergraduates, only eight universities decided to implement fees, and just 794 students have taken these places.
The vast majority of students have chosen to study on a HECS-funded basis.
Overall, the universities that have implemented undergraduate fees will lose $5 million on the scheme this year. This has put pressure on the government to find new ways to make students pay.
A voucher system would enable the government to begin implementing undergraduate fees.
The interim report of the West Review favoured an amount of around $26,000 to be provided to each student. This would not cover the cost of an arts degree at Melbourne University ($30,000), a painting degree at RMIT ($33,720), let alone a veterinary science degree at Melbourne University ($110,000).
Students will have to cough up the difference between the voucher and the cost of their degree.
One of the sweeteners offered in the report is a cap on the level at which fees can be set. But this will not ameliorate the inequitable nature of a voucher system.
A voucher system will make the market the key determinant of the structure of higher education. Currently, universities receive money through centrally planned block grants.
Huge differences already exist between the richest and poorest universities. Sydney University has an operating revenue of $579 million, whereas Ballarat has only $43 million. A voucher system will dramatically increase this gap by tying funding levels to student numbers. Smaller regional universities will lose out.
After the release of the West's interim report in November, Canberra ruled out a voucher system. However, David Kemp, now minister for education, was the chief architect of the Coalition's 1993 "Fightback" education policy, which heralded a voucher system as the future of education funding. The student movement fears Kemp's opposition to vouchers may be temporary.
Katrina Curry, national education officer for the National Union of Students (NUS), has called on Kemp to rule out vouchers for the "life of the government, not just until after the next election".
The Labor opposition spokesperson for education, Mark Latham, has criticised the West Review's support for a voucher system, arguing that "universities do not match market theory". Yet only a short while ago, Latham was proposing a voucher-style education system.
The ALP's alternative of "merit-based funding" will not give much comfort to students. Like a voucher-based system, it will tie funding to student numbers, although it will also use other criteria like performance indicators and the amount of revenue raised from postgraduate fees.
Other recommendations in the West Review include replacing the HECS scheme with loans and the further deregulation of undergraduate fees.
The release of the report presents the student movement with the opportunity to present its own vision for higher education over the next 20 years. NUS is drafting a national student charter which will reject the privatisation and deregulation of the West Review.
[Zanny Begg is Brisbane organiser for Resistance and education officer for NUS Queensland Branch.]