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A bill amending the 1989 Education Act has come under fire recently from university student associations around New Zealand. In addition to creating a new professional body for teachers — a move that infuriated the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) — the bill aims to decrease the current size of university and wānanga councils.

The previous requirement that at least three seats on the councils be reserved for members elected by students and staff will be removed. Councils will decrease from 12–20 members to 8–12, though the number of ministerial appointees required will remain at three to four members.

OUSA President Paul Hunt will be negotiating with the council to ensure that at least two student-elected representatives will remain, even if this means one staff position is “sacrificed”. “As Otago students, we’re focused on ensuring that we maintain, or slightly increase, the number of students we have on the council,” said Hunt.

Auckland University Students’ Association President Paul Smith said in a press release that it is “extremely disappointing to see the government push the bill through despite its enormous unpopularity.”

Education Vice President Jessica Storey said, “[The amendments] will inevitably affect council make-up, because it reduces councils in size, meaning that only some interests will be protected. Ministerial appointees are protected, and there’s not lots of room left for others, which forces councils to make a decision between protecting student- or staff-[elected members], or people with other skills. It puts a lot of pressure on councils to get rid of students and staff.”

Wānanga councils will also be affected by the amendments, although it’s not clear exactly how. New Zealand’s oldest wānanga, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, currently has a thirteen-member council, including one member elected by students and one by staff.

The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations (NZUSA) made a submission to Parliament, calling changes proposed in the bill “wrong-headed and unnecessary”. The submission also pointed out that ministerial appointments have been overwhelmingly male, white and from corporate or legal backgrounds.

In a press release following the bill’s passage into law, Education Minister Hekia Parata responded, “The changes will not affect institutional autonomy or academic freedom, which are guaranteed by section 161 of the Education Act 1989, nor will they lead to more Ministerial control over councils.” Parata added that university and wānanga councils will still have the option of maintaining student and staff seats on the council, and student associations have already begun putting pressure on their councils to do just that.

Universities and wānanga have until 2016 to rewrite their constitutions in accordance with the amendments.