BRIDGING the gap between regional and metropolitan education access was the focus behind Nationals Senator for Victoria Bridget McKenzie’s Regional Higher Education Forum held in Bunbury on Monday.
A number of South West students, parents and teaching staff attended the forum which aimed to gauge the biggest challenges facing regional students trying to access higher education.
“We found that accommodation and distance were the biggest hurdles for regional students in Western Australia,” Senator McKenzie said.
“It’s easy for someone in Victoria or New South Wales to go home from university on the weekend, but if you’re from the north of WA you really have to relocate your entire life.”
Senator McKenzie was joined at the forum by Federal Member for Forrest Nola Marino, who said the difficulty regional students are facing needs to be understood.
“I think people misunderstand just how hard it is for students in the South West and the rest of regional WA to attend university,” she said.
“A lot of campus arrangements at universities are taken by students already living in Perth, so we need to open more options to students outside of the metro area.”
Bunbury was just one of 15 stops across Australia for Senator McKenzie, who is compiling a report based on the information gathered at the forums.
“We’ve heard plenty of different stories from students across Australia but accommodation seems to be a trending problem,” she said.
“This is especially true in Queensland and Western Australia, where the distance is so vast.”
Senator McKenzie believes there are a number of solutions that could make it easier for students to access higher education forms.
“Additional scholarships, lowering the cost of transport and tax deductibility are all ways we could lighten the load on regional students,” she said.
“We could also look at more courses being held in regional university campuses.
