Polytech changes will cost 1000 jobs, 500 courses, Cabinet paper reveals
Photo:
RNZ / Angus Dreaver
A Cabinet paper reveals reestablishing independent polytechnics will cost more than 500 courses and about 1000 jobs.
The March paper from Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds said polytechnics had started to act on financial improvement plans that would ensure they were viable when they were
cut free from super-institute Te Pūkenga
.
"Polytechnics have begun implementing their financial improvement plans, which as of late 2024 indicated reductions of approximately 550 programmes, up to 900 FTE and approximately 30 delivery sites," it said.
"The final model for work-based learning will also change the spread of training provision between polytechnics, wānanga and private providers. It would be premature to commit to long-term plans to support important provision when there is potential for delivery to look very different once these processes are completed."
The paper said the government would set aside $20 million to ensure the retention of strategically important, but potentially unviable courses.
"I intend to review support for strategically important provision in the second half of 2026, including long-term options to support the organisations that provide it and how to incentivise delivery of the provision that regions need, through either polytechnics, Wānanga, or private providers who may be able to fill gaps," the paper said.
The paper also said using $6.5m from a special funding category aimed at supporting Māori and Pacific students to boost government subsidies for polytech courses generally could have a negative effect.
"Tertiary education organisations may see the removal of the Māori and Pacific learner criteria from the Learner Component as a signal that programmes tailored to support these learners are no longer needed and can be substituted with more generic student support programmes. This may negatively impact on Māori and Pacific learner outcomes."
Tertiary Education Union national secretary Sandra Grey told RNZ's
Nine to Noon
it was the first time the full scale of the cuts had been revealed.
Tertiary Education Union national secretary Sandra Grey.
Photo:
Supplied
"This is the first time we've seen it in black and white. We've been feeling it every week as each institution tries to right-size so that it can cope with the minister's vision for them.
"To see 500 jobs going in black and white is really hard for the sector."
Grey said the changes would remove vocational education and training from some communities altogether.
The government recently announced nine of the 16 polytechnics that joined Te Pūkenga would
emerge as stand-alone institutes next year
. Three of the remaining institutes would join a federation, with the fate of four others yet to be decided.
Simmonds said in a statement: "The Cabinet paper confirms the scale of change required to re-establish a financially viable and regionally responsive vocational education network. The paper you are referring to is an early piece of advice and there were several updates made."
She said the government had asked the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) work with Te Pūkenga to assist all polytechnics to review their operations, "an exercise that should have happened five years ago when Te Pūkenga was set up, to ensure the viability of the polytechnic sector".
"As the minister, I am not privy to information regarding the operational decisions that polytechnics might contemplate. However, I would suggest that it is important for all polytechnics to be taking appropriate actions to ensure their overall viability and maintain their relationships.
"We are absolutely committed to maintaining and improving access to vocational education across the regions. $20m has been secured from TEC to support provision in strategic regions and strategic delivery. Our goal is to give each polytechnic the autonomy to tailor provision to the needs of their region - something the old centralised model simply didn't allow."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter
curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
The Panel with Holly Bennett and Tim Batt Part 1
Photo: 123RF Tonight, on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Holly Bennett and Tim Batt. Starting off, the Panel discusses whether New Zealand needs it's own FBI office or not; they examine the role of the emergency mobile alert during the Russian tsunami yesterday, is three alerts too much? And they hear from a digital wellbeing expert about the move in Australia to ban under 16 year-olds from YouTube: should we follow suit in Aotearoa?
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Oil and gas exploration ban repeal passes final reading
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts. Photo: RNZ The government's repeal of the 2018 oil and gas exploration ban has passed its final reading in Parliament. The legislation had been set down for Tuesday night, but was delayed after a last-minute amendment to change the rules around liability for the clean-up of decommissioned oil and gas fields. Climate Change Minister Simon Watts stood in for Resources Minister Shane Jones, saying the ban has pushed power prices up. "The ban sent a chilling message to the investment community, halting the very exploration that underpins our energy security, and leading directly to the supply constraints and price volatility that we see today." Labour's Megan Woods said the repeal of the ban was a "very potent symbol of the shambles that this government is when it comes to energy policy," and that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon "is leading a government that is so far out of touch with ordinary New Zealanders and more intent at doing the bidding of multinational oil and gas companies". The bill passed 68 votes to 54, with all coalition parties in support and the opposition parties opposed.
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Op-shoppers snap up donated kimonos
A generous private donation of thousands of colourful Japanese kimonos sent Christchurch City Mission op-shoppers into a buying frenzy. Bargain-hunters descended on the mission's Barbadoes St and Sydenham stores, rifling through bins and boxes full of long, short, floral, checked, bright, pastel, metallic, patterned and plain kimonos. City Mission retail team leader Josie Cox said its Facebook post on Tuesday about a "treasure trove" of kimonos for sale for $2 each had spread far and wide, resulting in queues at the Barbadoes St door. "It's a kimono frenzy. We've had a huge donation of kimonos, thousands. We haven't been able to keep up. "We're selling them for $2 each and they've just gone mad. This morning there were probably 40 people waiting to come in. We've had two days of madness." Shopper Nicky Page said she had spent time in Japan and was "blown away" by the amount of garments. Photo: RNZ Staff said the kimonos had arrived at the op shops in three trucks and two vans and had been snapped up so fast that restocking had been difficult. No two kimonos were the same, with shoppers also buying the garments for fabric. Cox said all op-shop proceeds went to the work of the City Mission so she was thrilled by the volume of sales. "We had a ground-breaking day yesterday, big sales for the shop, it's amazing," she said. City Mission workers Tina Burrows (left) and Josie Cox. Photo: RNZ The City Mission declined to comment further about the identity of the donor. Shopper Nicky Page said she was admiring the kimonos' texture and contemplating how she might be able to repurpose them. "I can't believe what I'm seeing. Having spent time in Japan I know the value of these things, so I'm quite blown away by what I'm seeing here," she said. "I was just coming for a look but I've already got a pile of about 10 and I think that pile keeps growing." Michelle Boardman was looking for something special for her granddaughter. "My granddaughter loves anything Japanese and eventually wants to go to Japan. She's studying Japanese, what a great opportunity to get her something that's really special."
