Academics back their courses

Waikato tertiary institutes are confident the courses they offer will survive any move by the Government to slash the number of qualifications offered nationwide.

They also support a move to performance-based funding so long as it is implemented correctly.

Te Wananga o Aotearoa executive director of curriculum and research Shane Edwards said the wananga cut several courses four years ago for the exact same reasons Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce cited this week. "So I'd be surprised if we had programmes in those areas the minister has referred to," Dr Edwards said.

Mr Joyce this week announced he wanted to cut duplication and reduce the number of new qualifications being added to the system unnecessarily.

Dr Edwards said it was "refreshing" to have a minister come out and clearly articulate what he was thinking and where he saw the tertiary sector heading. The wananga had already increased the performance of its students, so the inclusion of performance-based funding was not a huge concern. Last year, 65 per cent of students who started a wananga course graduated – up from 57 per cent in 2007.

ATC New Zealand, whose head office is based in Hamilton, hoped none of its courses would be cut.

Chief executive Trevor Wilson said cuts were always a concern, but ATC had worked hard to ensure its courses were relevant and up to industry standard.

"It's always a possibility and will remain a possibility," Mr Wilson said.

ATC lost funding at the end of last year for certain courses, but instead were given new funding for other course areas.

"So that's the world we've lived in for 25 years. So there's not a lot new there except now it will be a lot more robust."

Waikato University Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Crawford did not have a problem with performance-based funding.

However, he wanted an assurance that any money saved by the move would go straight back into the university sector, which he said was already underfunded by OECD standards.

Caution also needed to be taken when cutting quali-fications, he said.

Professor Crawford said the Government was not expert on course content so should consult with those in the industry before making any cuts.

Wintec chief executive Mark Flowers had no concerns about shifting to performance-based funding so long as it was implemented correctly.

In 2009, 88 per cent of all the Wintec courses enrolled in were completed successfully.

The Government's plans yesterday led Mr Joyce to smooth ruffled feathers in National's support partner after Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples, who is associate education minister, complained he had not been consulted on the changes.

He said he had grave fears the plans, which include cutting the number of qualifications and reducing funding to courses with high failure and non-completion rates, would be unfair to wananga and would hit Maori hardest.

- © Fairfax NZ News