Minister to use powers over polytech course cuts

Trevor Mallard

Education Minister Trevor Mallard will use ministerial powers to cut low-quality polytech courses because bureaucrats argued over whether they had the power to do it themselves.

A scathing review of the education bureaucracy by the heads of the State Service Commission, Treasury and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet coincided yesterday with Mr Mallard's decision to axe up to $160 million used to fund dubious courses and recycle it elsewhere.

National's education spokesman, Bill English, said the Education Sector Review shows the Government's tertiary policy is in chaos with no one in charge and the sector unable to agree on what their jobs were or how to do them.

The review said the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) did not have the ability to spot poor courses.

"TEC does not have a 'trigger' system that would enable TEC to identify and monitor areas of concern at an individual course," the review said.

There were also debates about whether TEC could stop funding to irrelevant courses that had embarrassed the Government without an order from the minister.

"There are different views between the ministry and TEC as to whether the legislation ... allows TEC to refuse funding," the review said.

Mr Mallard said there had been discussions about the options open to stop funding and was advised his ministerial direction was legal.

There has been talk that some polytechs could legally challenge Mr Mallard's direction, but he felt that was very unlikely.

The powers were intended for limited use to stop politicians getting involved in individual funding decisions.

In a sign of the problems facing the sector, Mr Mallard estimates he has used them five times in the last six months.

Mr English said the report showed Mr Mallard has spent millions on a bloated dysfunctional bureaucracy and was a "powerful indictment" of Labour's mismanagement of the tertiary sector.

- NZPA