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RNZ News
3 days ago
- 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.
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
14-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Watch: Christopher Luxon on the the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds have revealed the latest on the disestablishment of the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, Te Pūkenga. Luxon also announced the date of the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, following the sudden death of Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Tarsh Kemp. It will be held on 6 September 2025. Te Pūkenga, the mega-institute that combined polytechnic and workplace training and education, is due to be disestablished by 31 December 2026, and be replace with 10 stand-alone polytechnics and a new system for work-based industry training. The 10 polytechnics will start functioning on 1 January 2026, with Te Pūkenga operating for another year to cater for courses that aren't offered by the 10 named institutions. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Te Pūkenga changes: 10 polytechs to return to 'regional governance'
Otago Polytechnic, one of the 10 polytechs to return to "regional governance". Photo: Google Street View The government is moving ahead with its long-signalled plan to re-establish polytechnics merged under Labour into the super-institute Te Pūkenga. Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds confirmed 10 polytechnics are returning to "regional governance" as part of the government's plan to build a vocational education system that's "locally led, regionally responsive and future-focused". Labour combined 16 polytechnics and nine workplace training providers at the beginning of 2023 . The coalition government moved quickly when it came to power, agreeing as part of its 100-day plan to begin the process of disestablishing the mega institute. The announcement comes after listening to "extensive industry feedback" Simmonds said, and the changes were part of legislation currently before Parliament. "We campaigned vigorously against Labour's reforms which saw all New Zealand polytechnics merged into one unwieldy and uneconomic central institution, Te Pūkenga, taking away the ability of regions to respond to local training and employer needs," Simmonds said on Monday. "Labour dismantled regionally led vocational education - and we are restoring it". She said she was confident the coalition's plan will set the sector up for "long-term economic and learning success". The ten polytechnics returning to regional governance, which will begin operating from 1 January 2026, are: NorthTec, Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT), Whitireia Community Polytechnic and Wellington Institute of Technology (Whitireia and WelTec), and Tai Poutini Polytechnic (TPP) will remain within Te Pūkenga for now as they "work toward viability, with decisions due in the first half of 2026". Penny Simmonds. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver There will be an "anchor" polytechnic of the new federation - the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. That federation will coordinate programmes and other services, including shared academic boards, Simmonds explained. "It will provide a low overhead way for polytechnics to create more efficient business models than they could on their own through the use of online learning resources and programmes." Just last week Te Pūkenga warned MPs the government would have to bail out struggling polytechnics despite its reforms. Te Pūkenga will continue to operate as a "transitional entity" for up to a year, allowing for a "smooth handover", and the new legislation allowed for mergers or closures if polytechnics were not able to achieve viability. "With more than 250,000 students in the vocational education system each year, these changes offer greater flexibility, financial sustainability, and ensure training remains relevant to employment needs," Simmonds said. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said vocational education - and the polytechnic sector - mattered deeply to communities, the economy and the country's future. Luxon said the vocational education system had been through a "turbulent few years". "The last government's Te Pūkenga reforms intended to strengthen the system, but what we've seen instead is a model that's become too centralised, too removed from local communities, and ultimately too slow to respond to regional training and employer needs. It's not good enough." He added it was a "good day for communities" getting back their polytechnics "as we had said before the election". Simmonds rejected assertions there'd been a lack of consultation with Māori, saying she'd engaged with the education group of the Iwi Leaders Forum. In selecting 10 polytechnics, Simmonds explained those institutes had financial pathways to "affordability" whereas the other four had "got some work to do, they've got some unique challenges". She explained those challenges were unique to those institutes and their communities, like being small or needing to shift campuses. Simmonds acknowledged Te Pūkenga was in surplus, but said that was because the "duplication of bureaucracy" in the head office had gone. Asked whether these reforms recreated that duplication, Simmonds said that was not the case. "The main purpose of the federation is to support the smaller polytechnics that don't have the capacity themselves, particularly in online learning." On whether all polytechnics would be operational in two years time, Simmonds said that was "their responsibility". Those who were still facing "unique challenges" had been given a business case with a pathway to financial viability "if they stick to it.". Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Reuters
07-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
China releases plan to improve rural workers' skills, CCTV reports
HONG KONG, July 7 (Reuters) - China on Monday released a plan outlining 14 specific tasks to promote retraining of the rural workforce to improve their job prospects, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The announcement comes after China in April announced a 10-year plan to build an agricultural powerhouse, amid escalating tensions with the United States, an economic slowdown and challenges posed by climate change. The plan, issued by several government departments including the Commerce Ministry and National Development and Reform Commission, announced policies including vocational education for rural workers. China has close to 300 million rural migrants in cities, with around 100 million of them reaching retirement age over the next 10 years, according to official data. To improve employment security of rural labour, it said it would "strengthen housing security, create favourable conditions for rural workers in cities to enjoy basic public services equally and integrate into the local society as soon as possible," CCTV said. The report said the scheme would help support job-seeking services for rural labour and support the employment and entrepreneurship of college graduates. The plan would help improve the supply and quality of workers and better meet employers' needs, CCTV said, citing Zou Yunhan, deputy director of the Macroeconomic Research Office of the Economic Forecasting Department of the National Information Center.
