It seems that the Tertiary Education Commission, in its haste to implement the Minister’s Level 1 and two contestable funding experiment, has made rushed assessments of several private training providers’ preparedness to teach courses early next year.
Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) Chief Executive Dr Peter Brothers said on November 30 that a few private training providers had contacted the Institute to buy their curriculum and teaching materials, because they bid for courses that they have not been previously teaching.
Those private training providers won the right to teach courses after the government rushed through a decision to change the way it funds Level One and two foundation studies courses.
As a result, the Commission took millions of dollars of money from established local polytechnics courses and gave it to private providers and other providers.
Rumours confirmed
We had heard rumours that several of those providers had no course materials, no teachers and no space to provide the courses for which they successfully bid.
Dr Brothers’ comments appear to confirm those rumours.
It seems that the Minister’s hasty decision to implement this funding experiment at short notice has led the TEC to take money off well-established, publicly owned polytechnics and award it, in some cases, to private providers with limited experience of these programmes, no classrooms and no materials.
Sandra Grey is National President of the Tertiary Education Union based in Wellington.
