The minister of education, Steven Joyce, has answered a series of parliamentary written questions explaining why the government is disestablishing the Academic Migrant Grants and the Refugee Study Grants.

Asked if he was concerned that disestablishing the grants will make it more difficult for new migrants and refugees to access tertiary education, the minster replied that the government had faced difficult fiscal decisions for tertiary education last year.

“In Budget 2009 a number of small funds were disestablished which had relatively high compliance or administration costs and provided outcomes that could be achieved elsewhere in the tertiary system. Affected funds included the Academic Migrant Grants and Refugee Study Grants. The tertiary education system will continue to support migrants and refugees, as appropriate, including through Tertiary education subsidies, Student Loans and Allowances, The Youth Training and Training Opportunities programmes, Intensive Literacy and Numeracy, and Workplace Literacy,” said Mr Joyce.

The Tertiary Education Commission says that the refugee study grants currently enable adult refugees to participate in designated English language programmes at no cost. The grants enable refugee students to study English language at a level that will enable them to move into higher education or employment. TEC says the grants also contribute to the tertiary education system in line with the government’s own Tertiary Education Strategy, and meet two of the goals sought by the New Zealand Settlement Strategy by helping migrants, refugees and their families to obtain employment appropriate to their qualifications and skills, and to become confident in using English in a New Zealand setting.