WELLINGTON, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels, following a death of a student from the University of Canterbury at a school accommodation.
The Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care that tertiary education providers have for their students.
"The recent death at a student hall of residence in Christchurch exposed the limitations of our current system," Education Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement.
"Halls and hostels charge a premium for their accommodation and parents have every right to expect a high level of care for their sons and daughters," Hipkins said.
"Students should also be assured when they choose to live in a hall or hostel that there are minimum standards of safety and that there is support available to them if they need it," he said.
The minister said tertiary education providers could have complied with a voluntary code which was created in 2004, but the self-regulation approach has failed to maintain adequate and consistent standards across the board.
The mandatory permanent code will come into effect in 2021, he said, adding a new offence is being created so as to take legal action if any breaches result in serious harm or the death of a student.
The offence will carry penalties of up to 100,000 NZ dollars (62,945 U.S. dollars).
"For international students, there's already a high level of pastoral care and support required as set out in the Code for Pastoral Care of International Students," he said.
