If I had to grade Education Minister Jason Clare on his recently announced policies for higher education, I’d give him a C. He has made a good start but currently has a half-baked conclusion.
Luckily, the government’s final assessment isn’t due for a couple of days, with Clare promising to outline the “full first stage” of his response to the Universities Accord around this week’s budget.
He still has time to push for top honours. Here’s what he needs to brush up on.
Indexation is fixed, but thresholds are still too low
Last week, Clare made two major announcements, clearly aimed at winning back support among current and former students, whom teal MP Monique Ryan and the Greens have been increasingly courting.
Firstly, HECS indexation has been changed to whichever is lower in the given year: the wage price index or consumer price index.
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