Dampener put on singalong courses

By STUART DYE

Community education programmes will have to pass strict criteria to win funding under the Government's moves to cap a blowout that has seen its spending on courses balloon from $16 million in 2000 to a projected $115 million this year.

Under the programme every tertiary institution in the country will have a cap on the number of community education places it is allowed to offer.

The Government's moves follow the disclosure that some of the money went to courses of "dubious quality" such as twilight golf and Maori singalong to the radio lessons.

Acting Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary) Margaret Wilson said yesterday there would be a new "ring-fenced" funding pool.

The Tertiary Education Commission will be given the job of deciding if courses meet the criteria.

Mrs Wilson said community education was an important part of the tertiary sector with a proud history.

Not everyone wanted to sit an exam and get a certificate for every short course they attended, she said.

"However, the major increase in this area, particularly in the last year, does not fit with the Government's spending priorities for tertiary education, and we were not satisfied that all of it was leading on to further learning or producing other benefits for our communities or economy."

Community education is funded based on the number of equivalent full-time students (EFTS).

Under the new scheme there will be a total of 43,500 EFTS funded over the 2004-2006 period.

In addition to the cap on places, each EFTS will only attract $5000 next year - a drop from the current $5707.

The changes mean some institutions will lose more than a third of their funding for community education.

"Following the recent growth, we need to get back to the basics with community education," said Mrs Wilson. "We want to bring community education delivered in tertiary institutions more into line with other forms of adult and community education."

The Tertiary Education Commission will write to all institutions telling them how to qualify for funding and how many EFTS places they are eligible for.

Mrs Wilson said there would be some flexibility in funding as long as courses met relevant priorities.

Funding rules

Polytechnics and universities will have to prove their courses meet five priorities before they get taxpayer funding. They must:

* Target learners whose initial learning was unsuccessful.

* Raise foundation skills.

* Strengthen communities by meeting community learning needs.

* Encourage lifelong learning.

* Strengthen social cohesion.