David Cooke: Only for the economy, stupid

In tertiary education, the Government means business, and not much else. The draft Tertiary Education Strategy starts by firmly bolting education to work and the economy, and never wavers in its focus. It does have some passing references to profile items like the environment, but you’d have to be sweetly trusting or a supporter of the National Party to think they have any real intention in the document.

The Strategy is relentlessly reductionist. Language, literacy and numeracy echo like a refrain throughout the document, but only as remedies for failure. Maori and Pacific Islanders get honourable mention, but only as underachievers. Adult and Community Education is cited, but only as an antidote to unsuccessful previous learning. In other words, the Strategy is heavily into deficit theorising, with various categories of residents type-cast as losers. The solution to the supposed underperformance of tertiary education is skills, not enlightened education.

The opening section, optimistically labelled, “Vision for tertiary education,” puts the case bluntly: the sector is to build “a productive skills base to drive economic growth,” and from then on the labour market and the economy get royal attention. The context is defined as competitive challenges. The goal of research is to support innovation for commercial use. And “low-quality qualifications” will give way to high-quality qualifications that benefit economic growth.

The Strategy proposes a number of very direct linkages. Education is to increase productivity growth. Workplace literacy training is to provide productivity benefits for employers. The sector is to have stronger links with industry. The Government will look at the extent to which study leads to employment. It will strengthen the connections between “funding and performance,” rewarding providers who respond to “market signals.” It looks for better linkages between firms, universities and public research organisations, insisting that the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) ensure research of direct relevance to the needs of industry. It expects to see “more providers working with businesses to drive innovation.” Put simply, education is utilitarian.

Naturally, this hard-headed approach extends to “system performance.” Tertiary providers will be held accountable for their educational outcomes, under a new regime of quality assurance. There will be more competition within sub-sectors of education. Government wants institutions to be more responsive to students and industry, demonstrating better student completion rates. And it plans to publish the “performance” of tertiaries for the world to see.

Inevitably, the sector “will need to do more with less,” as is strikingly evident in adult and community education (ACE). For the losers who struck out in their previous education, there will basically be only literacy, language and numeracy. But just as significantly, the Minister plans to reduce funding in ACE by 80%. So would-be students will just get less for less.

The highly functional thrust of the Strategy means that any part of the sector can be pressed to serve industry interests. The polytechnics look to be the most immediately vulnerable because of the recent bill on council membership. The Education (Polytechnics) Amendment Bill kneecaps polytech councils, reducing them to eight members. Half of them are appointed by Government, and it chooses the chair and deputy-chair, which deftly puts Government in a commanding position.

Meanwhile, the Strategy is notably silent on the idea of a healthy society. There is no mention of inequalities and discrimination, or diversity, human rights, civil society, social justice, ethical behaviour. It’s silent on facing climate change and globalisation. There is nothing about fostering a love of learning and access to it, or a desire to inquire. Critical thinking figures twice: it’s good for innovation. But why expect any such reference? The Strategy is disarmingly unsubtle in its expectations. As it says, “We expect the entire sector to supply skills that are relevant to the labour market.”

David Cooke is an Honorary Research Associate at Unitec, NZ.

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