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RNZ News
28-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Fears grow for NorthTec as more cuts loom amid break-up of Te Pūkenga
Te Pūkenga only opened a new NorthTec campus at Ngāwhā, near Kaikohe, in 2023, but it's now scaling back courses as part of a de-merger. Photo: Peter de Graaf Fears are growing for the future of Northland's biggest vocational education provider as it scrambles to break even amid the break-up of mega-institute Te Pūkenga. A 'Save NorthTec Hui' was called at short notice at the main campus in Whangārei on Friday as the institute starts consulting on a new round of cuts. It comes as the government returns 10 polytechnics around the country to standalone, regionally-run institutes, reversing the previous government's 2020 merger. However, polytechnics in four other regions - including Northland - have been given until next year to prove they can be financially viable. Those that can't balance the books face possible closure or a merger with the Open Polytechnic. Tertiary Education Union (TEU) rep Sharlene Nelson told the hui the restructuring proposal could see the axing of courses in forestry, primary industries, apiculture, pest control and creative writing, as well as the closure of the Auckland campus. Adding to staff concern was the uncertainty around whether NorthTec would exist in a few years' time, she said. "Morale is pretty low ... it just creates anxiety, because you don't know if you've still got a job. Do you put that effort in? And where are students going to go if we don't exist?" Nelson said she'd been shocked by revelations in an RNZ report last Thursday that polytechnics around the country expected to cut about 550 courses, up to 900 full-time equivalent staff and 30 delivery sites. "We knew it was happening, but we never saw the magnitude of it. It's quite scary." Another tutor and TEU rep, Jim Hutchinson, said the proposed cuts were devastating for staff. "That's their livelihood, and they love to teach." Hutchinson said the potential closure of NorthTec was especially concerning for students in the Far North, who would have to travel long distances to pursue other training options. Poor connectivity in some parts of Northland made online learning impractical, he added. Nelson said the cuts also threatened Northland's future economic growth. "Without education, how do you grow? If you decide to cut back to next to nothing, then what is the future for Northland?" Former NorthTec student, tutor and director Hūhana Lyndon – now a Green MP – called the Save NorthTec Hui on Friday amid concerns for the institute's future. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf The public hui was called with two days' notice by Hūhana Lyndon, a former NorthTec student, tutor and learner support director, now a Green MP. She said she organised the meeting after news emerged last Wednesday that Northland would not necessarily retain a polytechnic following the dis-establishment of Te Pūkenga. That was followed on Thursday by revelations of the scale of course and job cuts nationwide. Lyndon said uncertainty over the 46-year-old institute's future was "hugely concerning", even if some courses needed "a rev-up". "It really leaves us vulnerable in terms of powering up the economy, and being able to educate our young people and those that are transitioning between jobs." The timing was "awkward" because just last Wednesday, Northland's biggest businesses made a presentation to Parliament about the region's potential to expand from an $11 billion-a-year economy to $60 billion by 2050. The same presentation explained Northland's current under-performance was due to long-term under-investment in infrastructure, a skills shortage and poor educational outcomes. Lyndon said the answer to the skills shortage was "industry-relevant, credible training options". She was pleased with the turnout of more than 100 people at the hui given the short notice. Lyndon planned to raise her concerns with NorthTec's interim leadership, as well as industry, hapū, iwi and councils. Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds said the government was committed to helping NorthTec work towards long-term financial viability. "A committed group of community leaders are working alongside the government in Northland to ensure this happens. NorthTec is a valued polytechnic and will remain within Te Pūkenga over the next few months as it works with specialist advisors on a pathway toward viability, with decisions due in the first half of 2026." Simmonds said the government had set up a $20 million annual fund for the next two years to support "strategically important provision" in smaller, rural regions. Tutors and Tertiary Education Union reps Sharlene Nelson and Jim Hutchinson address a Save NorthTec Hui called at short notice last Friday. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf That would help ensure learners in regions such as Northland were not disadvantaged while the government worked through longer-term funding plans. As part of the new "blended learning" model, regional institutions would have autonomy to choose the right mix of online, work-based and in-person learning to meet local needs. Regarding NorthTec's current cuts, Simmonds said she was not privy to polytechnics' operational decisions. "However, I'd suggest it is important for NorthTec, as it is for all polytechnics, to be taking appropriate actions to ensure their overall viability and maintain their relationships with local industries and communities," she said. Simmonds said the government wanted to build a vocational education system that was "locally led, regionally responsive and financially sustainable, including for Northland". The three other regions where polytechnic survival is uncertain are Taranaki (Western Institute of Technology), Wellington (Whitireia Community Polytechnic and Wellington Institute of Technology) and the West Coast (Tai Poutini Polytechnic). NorthTec was founded as Northland Community College in 1978. Its main campus is in the Whangārei suburb of Raumanga but it has satellites in Kaitāia, Kerikeri, Ngāwhā and Auckland. The brand-new campus at Ngāwhā, just east of Kaikohe, only opened in 2023. The Rāwene campus closed in 2017 but the buildings remain in use as a community-run education hub. NorthTec has been contacted for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
23-07-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
NorthTec staff fear more cuts amid Te Pūkenga disestablishment
Another 10 polytechnics would be re-established, she said. NorthTec earlier this year suggested axing 11 programmes across primary industries, forestry and construction. The cuts were opposed by the Tertiary Education Union and appeared to remain paused – until Monday. Some changes following feedback earlier this year meant eight fulltime roles were now in limbo, and courses such as the New Zealand Certificate in Forestry Operations (Level 3) would no longer be delivered. Te Uepū representative and NorthTec curriculum lead Sharlene Nelson said staff morale was lower than before. She told the Northern Advocate prior to Monday's meeting that a few people had gone on leave to 'try and cope with everything'. In Nelson's opinion, NorthTec had become a 'really horrible place to work'. Staff were living with constant uncertainty and were unsure whether they should be looking for jobs, she said. Slatter acknowledged the consultation was ongoing and difficult for all involved. 'We will work with kaimahi over all proposed changes, with the aim of minimising any impact on our ākonga,' he said. Nelson believed a stable senior management team with experience in education was the minimum needed to move forward. She claimed cuts to niche courses would make it harder for vulnerable Northlanders to improve their lives. 'Some of the students that we actually deal with, especially in our smaller regions, they come to us and still can't read, and we're talking about adults in their 30s, 40s. 'If they can't read a basic document, how are they going to improve their lives?' Tertiary Education Union (TEU) organiser Jill Jones said it felt as though the Government had 'abandoned its responsibility' to prioritise regional education. 'Some students are saying 'well look, why should I enrol at NorthTec if I don't even know if my course is going to exist in the future?'' Jones felt it was unfair for NorthTec to expect staff to cope with the uncertainty and still front up to students. Staff were losing trust 'every day', she said. National president for the TEU Julie Douglas did not believe the way forwards for Northland was a 'whole lot of private training providers'. She described the situation as 'fait accompli', claiming there was a deliberate attempt by the Government 'for these places to just fall over'. 'They're not being resourced, they're not being supported, they're not getting the sort of expertise they need and it's the staff who are bearing the brunt of that with angry, disappointed students and communities.' Simmonds assured the Government was committed to supporting vocational education in Northland and countrywide. A $20 million annual fund over the next two years could support provision in smaller and rural areas like Northland, she said. 'This helps ensure that learners are not disadvantaged by where they live while we work through a longer-term plan for funding this type of provision. 'Our focus is on building a vocational education system that is locally led, regionally responsive and future focused – including for Northland.' Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
RNZ News
15-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Minister defends Te Pūkenga breakup, saying rural education will not suffer
Penny Simmonds. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds is confident her approach to polytechnics will not impact training in the regions, pushing back on criticism from the union. Simmonds on Monday unveiled the polytechnics that would emerge from breaking up Te Pūkenga, the mega-institute set up under Labour with the aim of making the sector more cost-effective. That merger in 2020 combined 16 polytechnics and nine industry training organisations, with most retaining their branding and continuing to operate but using Te Pūkenga as a "head office". Simmonds' proposed approach makes nine of those polytechnics independent once more, beginning operations from 1 January. Three of them will become a "federation", with the Open Polytechnic leading and providing services to Otago Polytechnic and the Universal College of Learning (UCOL). A further five polytechnics - NorthTec in Northland, Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT), Whitireia and WelTec in Wellington, and Tai Poutini Polytechnic on the West Coast - would be required to show a path to financial sustainability or face either closure or mergers. Simmonds signalled on Monday they would all likely be included in the federation. The former Industry Training Organisations would be replaced with Industry Skills Boards. Tertiary Education Union national secretary Sandra Grey is adamant the approach will be a disaster for regional education, saying the sector's become a political football. She told Morning Report it was important for polytechnics to be financially viable, but the funding model had not worked and needed to change. The $16.6m surplus Te Pūkenga reported last month was only possible because of drastic cuts and there was more to come, she said. "We've seen hundreds of jobs cut, dozens of dozens and dozens of courses go just to ensure they could reach this day... five polytechnics still have very uncertain futures, and we've got hundreds of job cuts coming just to meet the demands of the minister." "The only courses are [that] surviving are those that can get lots and lots and lots of students... I was at the Western Institute of Technology in Taranaki yesterday and one of the courses going is the course in agriculture - given that community is full of dairy farms, you cannot tell me they don't want agriculture courses." That agriculture course needed to be small because the students were working with heavy machinery like chainsaws and tractors, she said. "You can't have hundreds of students in a classroom when that's the activity you're doing, and that's what the minister's got to look at: a fit-for-purpose model that allows courses to run to meet community needs." Simmonds later acknowledged courses like that would need to be smaller, but said $20 million over two years had been set aside to support polytechnics to run them. "They have to have smaller classes for health and safety, and so that's what that additional funding is: to support them to be able to continue with those smaller classes that aren't viable but are really strategically important," she said. "It does give recognition to those areas where we really need to have training, but it can't be viable under the current funding system." She said the funding was specifically for regions like the Far North and East Coast that had a high need for such courses. She was confident her model would not impact rural training. "No, it won't. Because by putting the Federation in place, the regions are going to have access to online delivery through the Open Polytechnic and are going to have a wider range of programs available to be able to deliver blended delivery to smaller cohorts of classes." Otago Polytechnic also criticised the federation model , saying it would risk undermining its achievement rates, teaching quality and independence. Simmonds backed the federation as a solution to that rural-urban divide. "Putting the Federation in place, the regions are going to have access to online delivery through the Open Polytechnic and are going to have a wider range of programs available to be able to deliver blended delivery to smaller cohorts of classes. "Otago, for example, were running courses with quite small numbers in Central Otago. This gives them an opportunity to run those courses with blended delivery using the open polytechnics, online sources, resources. "The reality is, you can't run a course with five or six people in it on campus, fully sourced, fully staffed. But if you can have access to online learning as well, you can have that blended delivery online and on campus with smaller cohorts." She said Otago had "a little bit of work to do to get to a surplus", and the government could look at taking them out of the federation once that was achieved. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
12-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
No need for bill protecting campus free speech, unis and legal experts say
Paul Rishworth KC says academic freedom is already protected in the Education Act, and the Bill of Rights protects free speech. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson Universities and legal experts say there is no need for a bill protecting free speech on campus . But the legislation's supporters say universities can't be trusted to uphold freedom of expression. Parliament's Education and Workforce Select Committee has been hearing submissions on the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No. 2). If passed, it would require universities to develop a freedom of expression statement and complaints procedure, and report annually on it. The Law Society told the committee the bill created "needless complexity" because freedom of expression was already protected by law. Paul Rishworth KC said freedom of expression was of the utmost importance, but the bill was not necessary. He said academic freedom was already protected in the Education Act and the Bill of Rights protected free speech. "So, to add in to the Education Act a requirement that there be a statement on freedom of expression, introduces a needless complexity," he said. University staff warned the bill would force universities to host speakers spreading misinformation and hate speech. Tertiary Education Union co-president Julie Douglas told the committee there was a lack of evidence that universities were limiting free speech. "What we have now is a functioning model which does not need this level of monitoring," she said. Douglas said universities were special places but were being undermined "with a disregard for science, with a disregard for evidence , with a disregard for expert opinion". "I fear that this sort of move by the government with this sort of clause is meddling in a place where it's just not required," she said. University of Otago vice-chancellor Grant Robertson and Universities New Zealand chief executive Chris Whelan appeared before the committee together. They said the law was unnecessary, but if it was to go ahead universities wanted to reduce the associated compliance requirements. "We don't think it's either necessary nor a proportionate response to the issues that are there," Robertson said. Whelan said a similar complaints system in the UK had been "weaponised". New Zealand Initiative senior fellow Dr James Kierstead said staff and student surveys and 21 separate cases proved that universities were not protecting freedom of expression. Kierstead said the problem included staff fearful of losing their jobs if they voiced unpopular opinions and speakers refused the right to appear on campus. "It suggests that university senior management cannot be relied upon to uphold their obligations to academic freedom. If we have plentiful evidence that ordinary academics and students feel stifled and no evidence that senior management is going to solve the problem, then legislation is the only solution." Free Speech Union chief executive Jonathan Ayling said the organisation was sad the legislation was needed. Free Speech Union chief executive Jonathan Ayling. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith He said students could cope with hearing challenging ideas and opinions. "We should not let a small group of students use their vulnerability... and work with university managers to stop other students hearing views that they think are dangerous," he said. "Free debate, free and open to ideas is part of being an academic, it is part of being a student and universities need to allow that." Canterbury University biological sciences professor Tammy Steeves told the committee should not be required to host any event or speaker . She said academics could judge whether ideas were robust and evidence-based. Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis said the legislation was likely to backfire. "It will actually make it worse for free speech on campus, it will politicise it, it will mean that opposing speech on campus will become a political act because it will be seen as opposing the government and I think it will be bad." Geddis said he was on a committee that drew up the university's free speech statement and statement of institutional neutrality. He said translating those statements into legal requirements would be a mistake. "I don't think actually it's the role of government to be trying to impose views on how universities as institutions ought to work. I think that's a dangerous imposition into the autonomy of them as institutions." Geddis said maintaining a culture of free speech would be more effective than making laws. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
04-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Cuts Set Toi Ohomai Up To Fail
Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union is devastated by today's news of massive job losses proposed at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology. The institution is proposing to disestablish the jobs of 166.7 full time equivalent staff with a total net loss of over 60 jobs after new roles have been filled. The cuts will effect campuses in Rotorua, Tauranga and Whakatāne; and most disturbingly threaten the closure of the Tokoroa and Taupō campuses. The proposal identifies the 2023 change of government and the current Minister's requirement for ITPs to demonstrate ongoing viability if they want to become standalone entities as a key driver of the cuts. Te Pou Ahurei | National Secretary Sandra Grey describes the proposal as 'outrageous' and lays the blame squarely at the feet of the National-led government. 'Education is not a business. It operates, for the most part, on government funding. National, ACT and New Zealand First are trying to pull the wool over the public's eyes by refusing to adequately fund polytechs before forcing them to slash and burn their way to oblivion because they have been labelled 'unviable'. Toi Ohomai's TEU (Rotorua) branch Kaiarataki Takirua | Co-leaders Ashton Ledger and Santana Ammunson say 'these proposed changes pose a significant risk to our regional campuses – especially Taupō and Tokoroa - and undermine the government's stated intentions to shape a regionally-responsive and sustainable vocational education and training system.' 'It's also ironic to note that these proposed changes will slash support for international students – an area the government expects us to grow to make up the shortfall of their underfunding. We are being set up to fail.'
