Interest in Maori, trades high

Trades training and Maori studies are experiencing a massive boost in enrolments at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT).

Latest figures show the polytech's Trades Innovation Institute and Maori Studies departments, Te Puna Wanaka, have 218 per cent and 200 per cent increases respectively in committed enrolments compared with the same time last year.

Chief executive Neil Barns said the increase in students studying Maori could be partly explained by the introduction of a Bachelor of Language degree in Maori this year.

The total number of fully enrolled students was up by about 10 per cent, but indications were that that would rise, he said.

Overall committed enrolments (where students had enrolled and applied for a loan), were up by 39 per cent.

Institutions were only supposed to enrol up to 103 per cent of the number of Equivalent Full Time Students (EFTS) they had funding for.

Barns said he expected to hit that mark early in the year and it would be up to the government to decide if it would fund more tertiary places.

"I know ministers and officials are looking at that right now. I don't know the solution, but there will be pressure on the tertiary system," he said.

Institutions could, in theory, enrol more students than they were funded for, which would have a flow-on effect on student loans and allowances.

"It's clear that interest in tertiary study is stronger and we can see that around the country," Barns said.

The chief executive of the West Coast's Tai Poutini Polytechnic, Paul Wilson, said completed enrolments were up 6.5 per cent on last year.

Some courses such as Music and Audio were up about 20 per cent as people found it increasingly difficult to find employment, he said.

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology chief executive Tony Gray said growing unemployment and the economic recession had not yet affected student recruitment numbers.

"In discussions with a range of agencies ... the view is that the impact won't fully be felt in this region until the end of the tourism and fruit harvest seasons," he said.

If applications continued as they were, the institute might need to take another look at its numbers cap, said Gray.

- © Fairfax NZ News