Whangārei MP Dr Shane Reti rewarded with tertiary education, skills and employment portfolio in National Party reshuffle

NorthTec announced in December 2017 that campuses at Kerikeri and Rawene would close - or be rested as NorthTec prefers to call it. Photo/File

FROM PARLIAMENT

This week there was a reshuffle and I was given the weighty tertiary education, skills and employment portfolio.

It was indicated that strong work last year on medicinal cannabis, cybersecurity and health warranted a passing of this important portfolio into a new pair of hands.

I am delighted with the promotion and am already thinking how the portfolio affects Whangārei.

The fees-free first year university programme has reallocated $2.8 billion which could have been spread amongst struggling polytechnics and training providers. Polytechs (ITPs) serve an important regional training role but can be limited by facilities that may not match modern teaching. The fate of polytechnics will soon be revealed with an upcoming government report and there could be significant changes for NorthTec.

The quality of tertiary education is also important. Six of our eight universities slipped down the QS international rankings last year and Auckland at 85 is the only university in the top 100.

I was assistant professor at Harvard, the number one university, for many years and I know the effort required to lift rankings. I'm thinking we need at least one university in the top 50.

A few months ago the government scrapped a financial quality incentive called performance-linked-funding that required tertiary institutions to basically make sure students turned up and completed courses. I'd be interested in your views on this.

Industry training organisations (ITOs) have a significant role in trades training and the huge demand we currently have for these skills. Local businesspeople continue to tell me they need skilled workers and tradespeople and across the sector increasing trades and apprenticeships is a high priority for me. Māori and Pasifica have historically excelled in this domain and this should be encouraged.

Let me summarise 72 hours into the new portfolio. I would not have directed $2.8b into a fees-free first year at university. It is untargeted and has encouraged bureaucratic waste.

I will be working on other ways to support university education and improving the quality and rankings of our universities. Polytechnics and other ITPs do need structural change (many are in deficit) and I will be scrutinising the upcoming government report and how this affects NorthTec.

Industry training organisations (ITOs) and apprenticeships are where I would be putting a large part of the $2.8b. This is where the need is and has been for a while.

I also need to mention private training establishments (PTEs) which can bring private innovation to education delivery unencumbered by government bureaucracy.

However these organisations also need robust monitoring and accountability and there is some immigration work to be done here also.

The new portfolio also covers employment … that will be a discussion all on its own for another column.

* Dr Shane Reti is the MP for Whangārei.