Refugees are calling for more help from the Government so they can afford to get tertiary qualifications.

Earlier this year universities were told to tighten their spending which meant less money for literacy courses for refugees – and things are set to get worse with refugee study grants axed in 2012.

Omar Raad-Abbas escaped to New Zealand from war-torn Baghdad 2 1/2 years ago.

The 19-year-old's father was killed in the conflict there; now he has to provide for his mother and three younger siblings.

“I have to get a qualification so I can work in my qualification and I have to support my family,” he says.

He dreams of being an architect, but to get the right qualifications he needs to increase his reading and writing level first. From next year the Government won't fund this.

His support service worker says opportunities for refugees are disappearing.

“Because they're such a small group of people and a desperate group of people; people who are unable to talk for themselves very often,” says multicultural learning and support services spokeswoman Judi McCallum.

Universities are under pressure from the Government to cut their spending and many of the cuts are coming in areas like bridging courses – which are often used by refugees who need to improve their literacy skills before moving on to tertiary education.

Charging for these bridging courses puts refugees under financial pressure.

“People like Omar who are already in quite dire straits financially are reluctant to take on loans when he is aiming to go into a four or five year degree course and he'll have to take on loans anyway,” she says.

Refugees say looking after them should be a higher priority for the Government.

“This is a little bit of help from the Government but for them it's a huge help,” says refugee Mohammed Ali Amir.

The Tertiary Education Commission says universities have to work with constrained funding and must prioritise qualified students over those like Omar.

It says refugees have other options like alternatives courses at polytechnics and they do have access to interest free student loans.

(Source 3 News)