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Students issue warning over polytech mergers
Students issue warning over polytech mergers
The national student union has issued a warning over mergers being pursued by four regional polytechnics.
Mergers are being proposed between Aoraki Polytechnic in South Canterbury with the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, and between Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and the Waiariki Institute of Technology.
NZUSA President Rory McCourt, who has been meeting with some of the affected students, says they are feeling anxious about the prospects for local provision as a result of the mergers.
One of those students, Shannon Paratene, says students need to know that a commitment to local provision will exist post-merger.
Paratene says “We’re really worried about what will happen after the merger. What will happen to students in Dunedin, Ashburton and Oamaru? We’re concerned especially after hearing the experiences in Masterton and Whanganui when their local polytechs became part of UCOL.”
McCourt says the institutions need to set out some guarantees to reassure students and their local communities.
“These institutions need to promise their students and communities that a sufficient range of essential courses will continue to be provided locally.”
“No student should have to drive for hours just to complete a basic course like automotive, administration or nursing. Local employers should be able to expect that in a country like New Zealand their workers can get essential skills locally.”
McCourt says that students’ uncertainty around the mergers stems from the history of closure and downscaling of regional polytechnics, and it was time that the Government introduced a Local Provision Guarantee with the funding to deliver it.
“The reality is that these mergers are haphazard shot-gun weddings. The Government has underfunded our regional polytechnics to the point that they have to merge to stay afloat. We need an organised approach to tertiary education in the provinces. Many will see this as deckchair shuffling.”
McCourt says the Government could back regional polytechnics by reining in private providers who cherry-pick lucrative provision and under-cut the ability of institutes of technology and polytechnics to provide the range of courses their regions require.
NZUSA Executive Director Alistair Shaw says the affected polytechnics could learn much from the Scotland's recent mergers. Dr Shaw was recently invited to attend a student voice in academic quality conference in Scotland, where he investigated their systems for regional provision.
“In 2013, Scotland undertook a review of regional provision and decided to create a nationally joined-up system of student voice with learners in the classroom at the centre of it.”
“For the Scottish regionalisation project to work, there was an agreement that student voice systems needed to be strong in order for mergers to be successful. There was an investment upfront to ensure that those systems existed. It’s an approach that New Zealand could learn a lot from.”
“The reality is that the New Zealand polytechnics that are merging have an uneven mix of student voice systems and overall those systems fall well short of best practice. Investing to get their student voice systems right at a very early stage of the merger process is going to be good for learners and crucial for the success of the new institutions.”
“We strongly believe that a strong student voice is beneficial for the community and for regional provision, since students represent the aspirations of that community.”
Dr Shaw says the union will be writing to the Councils of each polytechnic to invite them to work on improving their student voice systems through any mergers.
ENDS
NZUSA - New Zealand Union of Students' Associations
We stand for opportunity, for all.
NZUSA is the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations, the national body that represents New Zealand's students' associations and the interests of New Zealand's 400,000 students at universities, polytechnics and in trades training.
We conduct original research, advocate to Government and through the media, and support New Zealand's students' associations to be more effective on behalf of their members. We advocate alongside Te Mana Akonga – The National Māori Students' Association, and Tertiary Women New Zealand – The NZUSA Women's Caucus.
Since 1929, we've believed in a society rich in opportunity, where anyone from anywhere can become any thing. We support accessible, affordable quality public tertiary education.
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