Tertiary Update Vol 15 No 41

Protests today over foundation studies cut

TEU members are holding protests and meetings at polytechnics around the country today to convince the government to put more money into foundation studies education at polytechnics. The protests coincide with media coverage (from Auckland’s New Zealand Herald to Dunedin’s Otago Daily Times) of the millions of dollars the government has stripped from polytechnics through its foundation studies funding experiment.

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Autonomy debate at University of Auckland

Minister for tertiary education Steven Joyce opened the week threatening to force the University of Auckland to take more engineering students. The New Zealand Herald reported on Monday that vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon believed this could result in layoffs elsewhere in the university.

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Mediation service at University of Auckland faces closure

The University of Auckland plans to outsource its mediation service and make its mediation team redundant.

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Wisconsin to tie tertiary education funding to outcomes

Wisconsin's controversial governor Scott Walker unveiled major new policy initiatives last week including cutting taxes and requiring Wisconsin's schools, technical colleges and universities to meet certain benchmarks to earn state funding. Among the proposals was one to tie funding for technical colleges and the University of Wisconsin System with how well those institutions prepare students to take available and needed jobs in Wisconsin.

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TEU elections

There are six more days of elections remaining for the six candidates vying for four academic representative positions on the National Women's Committee, three candidates contesting two women's representative positions on the Industrial and Professional Committee and two candidates vying for one REAP/OTEP/PTE position on the Industrial and Professional Committee.

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Foundation studies protest this morning at the Open Polytechnic

Other news

UCOL union leader Tina Smith has called on the community to show its disappointment at funding cuts in the polytechnic sector. ''Under this national government the polytechnic sector has lost approximately $60 million in funding - the size of a small polytechnic,'' she said - Manawatu Standard

Apprenticeships have become much scarcer since the global financial crisis hit four years ago, forcing many businesses to lay off experienced staff, never mind taking on trainees. Concerned by low completion rates, the Government has also pushed industry training organisations (ITOs) into culling trainees who were not making progress. Between them, the recession and the cull have slashed trainee numbers by nearly 50,000, from 133,303 in 2008 to 83,413 by the end of last year - New Zealand Herald

Mass student protest is returning to London this week for the first time since a succession of occasionally chaotic marches two years ago, with organisers saying they hope to send MPs of all parties a message about the need to act – not just on education funding, but on rampant unemployment among the young - The Guardian

There are now more New Zealanders with a tertiary qualification than without one. In 2011, the proportion with a tertiary qualification increased to 52 percent, up from 50 percent in 2010. The proportion of people without any qualification reduced, while the proportion with a bachelors or higher qualification continued its steady upwards path - Profile & Trends 2011: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector

ENDS

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