Age Concern New Zealand, an advocacy group for people over 65, says moves to cut tertiary education for senior citizens are ageist and counter-productive. “Restrictions that only apply to older people would be morally and economically wrong,” said Age Concern New Zealand President Liz Baxendine in a press release.

The senior population is the fastest growing sector of the workforce. New Zealand relies on them to fill skills gaps – but they need on-going training like everyone else.
Older people outside paid work also have vital roles. Tertiary education institutions act as the critic and conscience of society. That means all sectors of society – not just the ones the minister thinks should be studying.

She said that as superannuation only provides a very basic standard of living older people need support to pay university fees and books. Adding that “To dismiss older people’s study as hobby courses is patronising and ageist.”
‘Hobby courses’ are the way that education minister Anne Tolley described classes run by Adult and Community Education, which received a massive 80% cut in last months budget. As John Minto has pointed out though, these classes are on car maintenance, healthy cooking, quilting, budgeting, ballroom dancing, computing skills, yoga and a hundred and one [other subjects].
The adult education sector is determined to fight the cuts, and has started a petition campaign to stop the cuts before they take effect at the beginning of next year. According to Community Learning Association in Schools (CLASS) President, Maryke Fordyce, over 200,000 adults enroll in Adult and Community Education (ACE) courses every year and these funding cuts “will change the landscape of community learning as we know it”.