Bondage under National
$10 million carrot thrown to graduates
A $10-million-a-year sweetener is being used to lure young medical, teacher and veterinarian graduates to areas difficult to staff. The Government announced yesterday it would pay graduates to work in regions that have struggled to fill medical and teaching vacancies with young doctors the biggest winners. They will receive a salary top-up of more than $45,000, less tax, after three years, if they stay put in a speciality or job that has traditionally struggled to attract graduates.
I like the bonding idea, Drs and Nurses and Teachers SHOULD go to rural areas, it’s great to have that new talent moved around and learn a bit of humble public service, the concept that the state will give you your education in response to the graduate staying in areas difficult to staff is EXACTLY the kind of thinking that will help rebalance services. It’s a great start but one that needs to be widened well beyond the limited careers it’s being offered. This is final proof that the student loan system NEVER WORKED, user pays education for crucial public services only meant the public ended up paying for the interest as well as the education and this massive U-turn in policy recognizes this.
posted by Bomber @ 7:51 am
4 comments
4 Comments:
You're on form today Bomber, gotta agree totally.
A total admition that student loans don't work / our professionals are paid too poorly.
Did I say professionals, I should have said our economy in general is underpaid.
Good start bomber, but no prize yet.
There needs to be a much greater incentive than this to keep medical graduates like my daughter here after graduation - she'[s a doctor in Sydney and believe me, the differential in pay she gets is far more than $15k per year pre-tax this proposes and the after tax position is even greater.
SO
Here's an option.
1. Work-out the true cost of graduating a professional (definition to be writen by law-makers but not to include hip-hop or basket weaving), including the madatory time in practice after academic graduation.
2. Charge EVERYONE who undertakes such a ciuse of study the FULL AMOUNT with students who are citizens or who have had permanent resident status for at least five years prior to beginning their study receiving an interest-free loan for the full amount.
3. Maintain the interest-free status of the loan for 5 years after full graduation (e.g. admitance to the Bar for a legal graduate)providing the student takes up employment in New Zealand in the field graduated within 11 months of academic graduation and remains in that professional employment through the ten years.
4. At the end of the 5 years, providing the criteria have been met, write-off the entire loan as having been repaid through effort.
Why is this a better approach?
SImple really. My daughter graduated from Auckland Med School, did a year as an intern and set off for greener pastures and more money (to pay off her loans). She paid off her loans, decided to do some extra study and then undertake training to be a specialist edocrinologist. Deciding where to do this was influenced by three factors:
- The Australian tax system allows her to claim ALL EDUCATION costs against her taxes, as well as a lower nomial tax rate on income increases then in NZ.
- there were three hospitals in NSW she could go to to train in her specialist area, vs 1 in NZ.
- the AUstralian healh system was offering her a base-salary 38% higher than that on offer in NZ.
If the system I suggest was in place, we, the NZ Tax-payer, would not have subsidised her education for the benefit of the Australian health system - which we have done. Instead, we would have had at least a 5 year return on that subsidy, not perfect but better than the 1 year of 'on-the-job-training', paid at $65,000 per year plaus overtime and penalty rates, that we 'received'.
I fully endorse what my daughter has done. The system is there and you work within its rules as best you can. She is also no different to her peers (her fellow citizens in her graduating class), MOST of whom are overseas.
YOur thoughts?
nice to see you can be balanced bomber
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