Universities will increasingly need to take on corporate partners, or go into business for themselves, to compete for these grants. Universities will compete with each other for these funds. Howard's announcement came at the commencement of an election year in which at least five Australian states and territories will go to the polls, as well as the federal government. Earlier this month, Beazley announced that a Labor government would finance the creation of an online university, with a goal of enrolling 100,000 students within a decade. The government's package also constitutes an attempt to regain electoral ground amid growing disaffection among broad layers of the population after years of devastating cuts to the universities and public schools.
Opinion polls indicate that education is the top issue for three out of every four voters.
Impact on education Closer examination of Howard's package, however, reveals that it will accelerate the running down of the publicly-funded universities, government schools and research institutions, and their subordination to the dictates of the market. As a result, staffing levels have fallen, class sizes have soared, courses have been terminated and entire departments have shut down, particularly in the humanities and other fields not deemed to be of sufficient relevance to the corporate world. Even in science, there has been a marked deterioration in teaching and research laboratories and other facilities. Universities are being forced to vie for corporate partnerships in order to earn essential research income. The government already requires them to generate industry-linked research revenue to offset the cuts in their basic teaching budgets.