More trouble ahead for tertiary education

Hon Bill English - National Education Spokesman

28 October 2004

More trouble ahead for tertiary education

The ongoing exodus of staff from the Tertiary Education Commission shows that the commission is in big trouble and Steve Maharey's tertiary strategy isn't working, says National's Education spokesman, Bill English.

His comments come as the head of TEC announces she is standing down after just six months in the job. The General Manager has also announced she is resigning after less than two years.

The commission has lost more than 90 staff in the 15 months since it was established.

TEC was established as an independent body, but Mr English says it's not much more than an extension of the Minister's office and has struggled with the implementation of Steve Maharey's pipe dream of a perfect system where he makes all the decisions and pulls all the levers.

"The tertiary sector will be pleased with a change of leadership at TEC, but no matter who is at the top, Mr Maharey's strategy will not work," he says.

"TEC is just one more layer in the bureaucratic tangle that Labour has made of education. While TEC gathers detailed data on everything under the sun, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on low-value courses that even the Government doesn't want.

"No one is looking forward to the next chapter of Steve Maharey's disastrous tertiary education strategy," says Mr English.

ENDS

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