Maurice Williamson National Tertiary Education Spokesperson

7 March 2001

TEAC raises issues but no answers

"Nothing in the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission report 'Shaping the System' signals how we are going to get a tertiary education system that will help the New Zealand economy leap forward. But there are plenty of worrying signs that show how a politically correct agenda could be driven through this structure," National's Tertiary Education spokesperson Maurice Williamson said today.

"By releasing the TEAC reports bit by bit we are getting a few pieces of a very large jigsaw from which it is still difficult to tell what the final picture will look like. I live in hope that the next report and any subsequent to that will start to be strong on detail and light on rhetoric.

"The Minister must assure New Zealanders that politically correct agendas aren't going to be driven through the system. Instead of focusing on things like the Treaty of Waitangi, the Commission should be focusing on making our institutions world class and providing young New Zealanders with qualifications that are second to none.

"Tertiary education is about more than academia and universities. It also affects training for workers such as plumbers and farmers.

"The tertiary system needs reform but the key objective of any reform should be world class standards and performance. The TEAC report is very superficial. It has raised a lot of issues but says little about what it will actually mean for students.

"If you are going to invest thousands of dollars in your tertiary education you would want a whole lot more than this.

"I will be questioning the Government on implementation details over the next few weeks," Mr Williamson said.

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