Government Seeks Expressions Of Interest In New Tertiary Commission

Expressions of interest are being invited from people to be appointed as members of the new Tertiary Education Commission.

The Tertiary Education Reform Bill, which would establish the new Commission from 1 July 2002, was debated in Parliament today and referred to the Education and Science Select Committee for its consideration. The select committee is call for submissions on the bill, closing on 8 March 2002.

The Commission will be charged with implementing the government’s tertiary education strategy and priorities; allocating funding of approximately $1.6b annually to public and private providers of tertiary education and training, and building the capability of providers of tertiary education and training.

Steve Maharey said the government is looking for 4-7 people with strong leadership skills to join the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Transition Tertiary Education Commission, Andrew West and Kaye Turner, who were appointed in August and who will be confirmed in these roles once the permanent Commission comes into being.

“The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) will be a dedicated Crown Entity charged with working with providers and stakeholders. We are looking for people with a broad range of skills, including business and industry knowledge, governance experience, education sector experience and a commitment to understanding the diverse perspectives of New Zealanders, particularly Maori and Pacific peoples. Advertisements are being placed in major newspapers this weekend.

“The TEC will have a series of new powers and processes to substantially increase the contribution of the tertiary sector to the nation’s economic and social development. These include:
 developing, monitoring and updating a Tertiary Education Strategy which ‘connects’ teaching and research by tertiary providers and ITOs with New Zealand’s national development goals;
 a requirement on all publicly funded providers and ITOs to agree a charter and profile with the TEC that defines the unique contribution each will make to fulfil the goals of the Tertiary Education Strategy. These provisions have been developed by the Charters and Profiles Working Party whose report is being sent out to the tertiary education sector; and,
 strengthening New Zealand’s growing industry training system (see separate statement).

“New Zealand needs a tertiary education and training system that is outwardly focused on the world, able to meet the nation’s future development needs and is distinctively ‘New Zealand’ in its style and tone.

“The government has heard regularly from business and other organisations that our tertiary education system must be better connected with our economic and social development priorities so that it is able to deliver skilled graduates and world-leading research. This Bill answers that call,” Steve Maharey said.

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