TEU Tertiary Update Vol 13 No 2

NEW MINISTER OF TERTIARY EDUCATION

The prime minister announced this week that he was appointing a new minister of tertiary education, Steven Joyce, to replace Anne Tolley who had been in the job for only a year.

Mr Joyce will add the tertiary education portfolio to his existing roles as minister of transport and of communications and information technology, and associate minister of finance and of infrastructure.

The new minister is a relative newcomer to parliament, having been elected in 2008. He has a zoology degree from Massey University and was previously managing director of the RadioWorks company, which he sold to Canwest media company in 2001. Since then he has managed two election campaigns for the National Party, and acted as a consultant for John Key.

TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan welcomed Mr Joyce to his new role, saying he hopes that the minister will be use his obvious abilities and influence for the betterment of the sector.

"In the medium term, Mr Joyce needs to confront the real effects of the major financial cuts imposed on the sector by the 2009 budget – especially given significant increases in government spending on tertiary education in Australia. Clearly, if this country’s tertiary sector is to maintain its competitive edge, there must be greater investment in it".

"He also needs to remove the student enrolment cap in order to ensure that all competent young New Zealanders who want to pursue tertiary education in fact are able to do so, and that our post-recession workforce is properly trained and educated", said Dr Ryan.

"The very first thing Mr Joyce should do, however, is to look to the level of industrial action in the ITP part of the sector which is shaping up to disrupt the beginning of the 2010 academic year. Employer intransigence has dragged some of the bargaining into a second year, and unless resolved will undoubtedly result in a further round of industrial disruption in a number of institutions over the coming months"

ALSO IN TERTIARY UPDATE THIS WEEK:

1. NorthTec enrolls more students
2. Regional executives disestablished at Massey
3. Student unemployment rises in Gisborne
4. Most school leavers are becoming students
5. Minimum wage increases minimally

NORTHTEC ENROLLS MORE STUDENTS

With the new academic year about to begin, NorthTec is heralding a significant increase in enrolments.

"Some courses are already full and we are encouraging prospective students to contact our enquiries and enrolment team soon to secure their place on the programme of their choice," said NorthTec’s Director–Student Success, Lynda Mathey.

The increase in student numbers at NorthTec follows an increase in enrolments last year in many tertiary institutions.

TEU national president Tom Ryan noted that there were two important implications from a second year of growing roll pressure.

"The first thing is that this was predictable. We know from demographic data that there are more 18 and 19 year olds looking for an education than there were a few years ago. We need to provide those young people with opportunities, and that means more funding. The alternative is leaving them without skills or education – which in the long term is even more costly, both economically and socially," said Dr Ryan.

"The second implication is that staff at places like NorthTec are working hard to deal with extra students, and in so doing are increasing their institution’s productivity. But all too often they are not being recognised for that hard work. Instead, their employers seem intent on freezing their pay levels and cutting back on their working conditions."

REGIONAL EXECUTIVES DISESTABLISHED AT MASSEY

The Manawatu Standard reports that Massey University is axing its regional chief executive roles in Palmerston North, Wellington, and Albany. The roles, which were equivalent to deputy vice-chancellor positions, were axed as part of Massey's 'One University' principle.

The Standard says that the positions and backup office structures are being replaced by a national shared management model, details of which are still being worked out. It will most likely be based at Palmerston North, but final decisions have not yet been made.

The 'One University' principle is understood to be a response to government funding cuts, and aims to eliminate duplication and save money. It also intends to get the three Massey Campuses working more closely together.

STUDENT UNEMPLOYMENT RISES IN GISBORNE

The Gisborne Herald reports that unemployment in the Gisborne-East Coast region is up nearly 25 percent, and students constitute the bulk of the increase. People claiming the unemployment benefit in Gisborne rose from 388 in the September quarter to 518 in the December quarter.

Social development minister Paula Bennett, commenting on the nationwide increase in unemployment, said the rise in benefit numbers was expected and that students made up a large proportion of increased unemployment.

'At this time of year, we see an influx of students leaving secondary school and tertiary education and competing for jobs. Many employers also tend to not hire over the Christmas period, shutting down for the break, which further tightens the labour market.'

However, it appears that there are more students and more people wanting to be students, which is putting additional pressure on employment opportunities.

Youth Transition Services and Career Connexions managing director Geoff Mead told the Herald he estimated he was 20 percent busier than before summer and 20 percent busier than this time last year.

SJS chief executive Paul Kennedy said it was 'no secret' there were more students than in previous years, due to the economic downturn, so there were more looking for summer employment. SJS was 20 percent down on listed jobs in 2009, compared to earlier years, he said.

MOST SCHOOL LEAVERS ARE BECOMING STUDENTS

Data released by the Ministry of Education this week shows that half of the 18-year-old domestic students who had at least one NCEA credit made a transition to tertiary education over each of the last four years.

The ministry notes that new enrolments in tertiary education are indicators of 'the extent to which New Zealanders are developing the skills needed for a modern knowledge economy'. It argues for clear pathways to assist young people making the transition from school to tertiary level study.

Unsurprisingly, students' transition to tertiary education is related to the qualification they achieve at school. The proportion of students who made the transition to tertiary education increased with higher secondary school qualifications. The majority (83 percent) of the 20 year-olds with university entrance standard have made the transition to tertiary education. Conversely, 20 year-olds without university entrance standard were much less likely to make the transition (35 percent).

The proportion of domestic students with at least one NCEA credit obtained between 2004-2007 who were in tertiary study for the first time and progressed to tertiary education directly has been constant over the last three years.

The main destination of the students with NCEA Level 3 or above was university (80 percent), followed by institutes of technology and polytechnics (13 percent). Students with NCEA Level 2 most often transitioned to institutes of technology and polytechnics (40 percent), followed by university (25 percent). The most popular destination of students with NCEA Level 1 were training programmes (53 percent), followed by institutes of technology and polytechnics (42 percent).

Students with no NCEA qualification tended to enrol in training programmes (60 percent) and at programmes offered by institutes of technology and polytechnics (33 percent).

MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES MINIMALLY

The government announced yesterday that it would increase the minimum wage on 1 April by 25c to $12.75 per hour.

Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly said the increase is 'mean'.

"If this is the rate at which we intend to catch up with Australian wages then we will never get there," said Ms Kelly.

"The increase to $12.75 from 1 April is an annual increase of only 2 per cent. That is barely enough to compensate for inflation, and may not be enough even for that."

The NZIER consensus inflation forecast is 2.3 per cent for the year to March 2010. The average wage rose 2.8 per cent in the six months to September 2009 alone.

The TEU does not know of any tertiary education employees actually on the minimum wage, though at some institutions' salary scales start close to it.

At Massey University, for instance the salary scale for general staff currently begins at $24,280. If the minimum wage for someone working 37.5 hours a week was annualized to a salary, it would equate to $24,440 and then increase to $24,930 from 1 April 2010. The TEU is not aware of any Massey members who are paid those low rates, but under the current collective agreement the potential for someone to be paid such a rate remains.

To lift Massey's lowest general staff salary rate above an annualized equivalent of the newly announced minimum wage, Massey would need to offer a pay rise of 2.7 percent. Massey University is currently in employment negotiations with its staff who are members of the combined unions at the university.

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TEU Tertiary Update is published weekly on Thursdays and distributed freely to members of the Tertiary Education Union and others. You can subscribe to Tertiary Update by email or feed reader. Back issues are available on the TEU website. Direct inquiries should be made to Stephen Day, email: stephen.day@teu.ac.nz

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