Media Release

15 December 2008

Govt needs to let tertiary education sector know its plan

News that the government is undecided about whether to cut costs in the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) does not allow tertiary institutions to plan cohesively. The newly formed Tertiary Education Union (TEU) believes the government needs to be clear about its tertiary education vision and thereby allow institutions to plan for the future.

“Tertiary education institutions shouldn’t be competing against each other over the same students,” said one of the TEU transitional presidents, Associate Professor Maureen Montgomery. “The message of cooperating for the good of the communities and the economy was finally getting through. But as institutions watch the TEC wriggle and writhe under the government’s suspended scalpel they are tempted to revert back to their old ways.”

“We saw that last week with the TEC’s permission being given to AUT to establish another law school in Auckland.”

“The government needs to stop complaining about the TEC’s bureaucratic costs and say what it thinks about TEC’s actual purpose in shaping the sector.”

“No matter what one thinks about the TEC’s budget, its actual cost is a small proportion of the tertiary education spend. The real question we need answered is does this government see a role for TEC at all, and, if not, what is its alternative.”

ENDS