Joyce's funding idea fair: Unitec

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce. Photo / Sarah Ivey

New Zealand's biggest polytechnic has attacked universities, while speaking out in favour of tagging some tertiary funding to students' job-seeking success.

Rick Ede, chief executive of Auckland's Unitec polytechnic, says the idea, floated last week by Tertiary Eduction Minister Steven Joyce, is not an unreasonable approach.

Universities and polytechnics currently receive state grants based on the number of students they enrol. This is changing over the next two years to a model focused on students' course and qualification completion.

Now Mr Joyce wants to expand this to include the proportion of a preceding year's students who found work as a result of their qualification.

Dr Ede says in an article in today's Herald that many polytechnic students, and a "good proportion" at universities, want a career and not necessarily a qualification.

Singling out the Vice-Chancellors' Committee, which represents New Zealand's eight universities, and the Tertiary Education Union, he criticises responses from the sector to Mr Joyce's suggestion.

"What we have seen is the same old self-serving responses ... .

"To set preparing people for a good career as some sort of contra-indicator to supposedly high academic standards is arrant, and arrogant, nonsense."

"The university approach to any threat of change appears to translate as 'push more money under the door and leave us to spend it wisely for you'."

Dr Ede says a number of polytechnics pay far more attention than universities to whether qualifications and course content suit the needs of students and employers.

He also suggested polytechnics tended to place more emphasis than universities on the development of staff as educators first and foremost.

Vice-Chancellors' Committee chairman Derek McCormack, the head of Auckland University of Technology, said yesterday that Dr Ede's comments were "a comprehensive slap back", but they were a misrepresentation.

"I don't think the universities said any of those things, or even think them," Mr McCormack said.

He reiterated that the universities "have a very good record on employment of their graduates", but a policy linking employment to funding would be hard to design and could create perverse incentives.

In many areas of study universities had strong links to industry and professional organisations - "to the point where some courses have to be approved by the industry body".

The employment of graduates was important to universities, he said, but so were freedom of thought, creativity and other aspects of higher education that were of broad benefit to society.