Closure of Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus will 'condemn another generation to poverty', mayor says
Photo:
South Waikato Investment Fund Trust / SUPPLIED
The mayor of South Waikato says the district will be "condemned to another generation of poverty" if Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus closes.
The polytechnic provider is to
exit Te Pūkenga and re-enter regional governance
from the beginning of next year, but said to meet the government's financial expectations the Tokoroa campus may have to go.
Mayor Gary Petley said South Waikato already ranked among the five-most deprived communities in New Zealand.
"We don't have the luxury of skipping a generation, what do we do with that?" he said.
South Waikato's recent long term plan shows 23 percent of 15-24 year-olds were not currently employed or in the education or training system, one of the highest levels in the country.
"There is no shortage of research and evidence that tells us a critical factor in efforts to lift people out of those statistical categories, and out of deprivation, is to invest in education," Petley said.
Mayor of South Waikato Gary Petley said Tokoroa was a community in need.
Photo:
Libby Kirkby-McLeod / RNZ
Toi Ohomai executive director Kieran Hewitson said the organisation acknowledged the deep concern surrounding the proposed closure of its Tokoroa campus.
"This decision has not been made lightly. The proposal reflects a need to ensure the organisation remains financially viable and sustainable, as expected by the Government.
"Declining student numbers, rising operational costs, and reduced income have made it increasingly difficult to maintain multiple campuses, including Tokoroa."
Petley said if a government-funded education provider could not afford to operate in an area such as South Waikato then it needed more money, not to retreat from a community in need.
"This is a short-sighted and lazy decision driven by Te Pūkenga's (the national network for all the country's 25 polytechnics) need to find $9m in savings.
"They are taking the easy way out, rather than finding other ways to achieve operational savings and to become sustainable, and it's come at the detriment of the people of South Waikato."
Te Hautū Kahurangi Tertiary Education Union branch co-leaders for Rotorua, Santana Ammunson and Ashton Ledger, said in a statement that not having a Tokoroa campus would be devastating for communities within the South Waikato district, undermining years of hard work to establish the South Waikato Trades Training Centre.
"It would erect new barriers to learning where progress had been made under Te Pūkenga (e.g. transport, technology-enabled learning, internet connectivity), and significantly reduce locally accessible opportunities for public vocational education and training which provide strong pathways to secure employment."
The news of the proposed closure came just weeks after the district
lost 150 jobs when the Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill
ceased paper production.
The Kinleith Pulp and Paper Mill. (File photo)
Photo:
Libby Kirkby-McLeod
"We're just smashed again," Petley said.
Ammunson and Ledger agreed the decision to close the campus would cause significant detriment to a community already reeling from the closure of the Kinleith Mill.
Hewitson said Toi Ohomai recognised Tokoroa's unique challenges, including its high proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training.
"However, the decision is not a reflection of the community's value or potential. Rather, it is a response to the urgent need to focus limited resources where they can have the greatest impact," she said.
Hewitson said Toi Ohomai would continue to support learners in the region, but it might not be through a traditional campus setting.
This was unwelcome news to the mayor who said it was only two years ago that the council, government, Trust Waikato, and the South Waikato Investment Fund Trust (SWIFT) invested heavily in a building to house Toi Ohomai's Tokoroa campus.
"You can understand how disappointed we were to find that out after contributing money into that space to help develop that facility that was purposely built for that, and it only just got past two years," said Petley.
SWIFT owns the Pūkenga Rau building where Toi Ohomai is currently a tenant. Chief Executive Clive Somerville said the goal of the building was to be a community facility for equipping young people and older residents with valuable skills that support workforce development.
"SWIFT's relationship, and our wider community's relationship, with Toi Ohomai is pivotal in delivering on our outcomes."
He said as Pūkenga Rau owner and landlord, SWIFT's next steps were to work closely with the Crown, as leaseholder for Toi Ohomai, to understand its intentions for the South Waikato.
Ammunson and Ledger from the Tertiary Education Union said the government had generated a lot of 'fuss' around the financial viability of institutions and pushed all of them into a rush to right-size.
"The closure of regional campuses was not what we anticipated under a government that claims to be returning decision-making to the regions and shaping a regionally-responsive and sustainable vocational education and training system. It's all dollars and no sense."
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