Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology is the vocational education provider in New Zealand.[1] In February 2019, the Government announced that the country's sixteen Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) would merge to form the new organisation; the merger was effective on 1 April 2020.[2] In addition to the polytechnics, Te Pūkenga also absorbs four industry training organisations (ITOs).[3] Te Pūkenga's head office is located in Hamilton and the chief executive is Stephen Town.[4]
Te Pūkenga has almost 10,000 staff, 280,000 students, and assets worth NZ$2 billion.[2] The student body includes those studying at New Zealand's 16 ITPs and various apprentice and industry training programmes.[5] The organisation is led by Stephen Town, the former CEO of Auckland Council; the announcement from Auckland Council as well as his new role was made on 4 February 2020. Town started his new role at the end of June 2020, with a salary of NZ$688,235.[6][7]
Te Pūkenga's legislative framework is the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Act 2020. This bill amended the Education Act 1989 and repealed the Industry Training and Apprenticeships Act 1992 to create a unified and cohesive vocational education and training system. The bill passed its third reading on 19 February 2020 and received royal assent on 24 February 2020.[8][9]
Chris Hipkins, the Minister of Education, announced in February 2018 that the education sector—from preschool to tertiary—was up for review. The details were outlined in a cabinet paper and this included "a programme of change for the institute of technology and polytechnic (ITP) subsector and for vocational education more generally".[10][11] After consultation with the education sector, Hipkins released a proposal in February 2019 that went much further than the options discussed in consultation, with all 16 ITPs to merge into one organisation.
The 16 ITPs are:[5]
Hipkins admitted that "change on this scale will be disruptive".[5] This merger was confirmed on 1 August 2019 alongside the working title "New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology",[12] and the following day, Hipkins announced the membership of an establishment ten-person-board based in the Christchurch suburb of Addington[13] and starting work on 5 August 2019:[14]
Regions were invited to submit proposals for the head office location. The Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS) asked for registrations of interest from 6 December 2019 to 15 January 2020. The outcome was to be announced in March 2020[15] but when New Zealand went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, this process was put on hold.[16]
The Minister of Education announced the first seven members of the governing council on 18 March 2020:[17]
Chris Collins, the chief executive of Eastern Institute of Technology, was appointed interim chief executive for NZIST.[18] Stephen Town, former CEO of Auckland Council; was appointed chief executive for NZIST.[6] He started his new role at the end of June 2020.
Forty Māori language names were under consideration for the organisation, and by 2 March 2020, five of those had been shortlisted:[19]
It was expected that the name would be decided before the start of NZIST but the Establishment Board asked for more time.[16]
In September 2020, Chris Hipkins announced the institute's permanent name, Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology. The name describes the "gaining and mastery of valuable skills through passing knowledge down from person to person".[1] The individual institutes of technology/polytechnics (ITPs) will retain their current trading names, while their legal names will change to reflect the fact that they are subsidiaries of Te Pūkenga.[20]
By mid–April 2022, Stuff reported that eight of the 16 polytechnic chief executives had resigned since their institutions were merged into Te Pūkenga a year ago. The chief executive roles at Te Pūkenga's associates are expected to expire in late 2022 with management shifting to a central executive team headed by Chief Executive Town and six deputies. Former Otago Polytechnic CEO Phil Ker attributed the resignations to fears about impending job losses in the new vocational education provider. Former Southern Institute of Technology CEO and National Party tertiary education spokesperson Penny Simmonds also expressed concern that the resignation of polytechnic CEOs was depriving the polytechnic sector of experienced senior managers. By contrast, Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) chief executive Tim Fowler expressed confidence in Te Pūkenga's leadership while Tertiary Education Union national president Tina Smith opined that the new polytechnic system was preferable to the previous model of "competing fiefdoms."[21]
In late May 2022, Radio New Zealand reported that a March 2022 document indicated that independent reviewers had expressed concerns about the future of Te Pūkenga. The report highlighted tensions between the vocational education provider and the TEC over what Te Pūkenga would be providing when it takes over responsibility of the ITPs on 1 January 2023.[22] As part of the planned transition, all 16 ITPs and four industrial training organisations would be absorbed into Te Pūkenga on 1 January 2023; thus losing their individual identities and becoming one national mega polytechnic.[23]
The report also expressed concerns that the institutes of technology/polytechnics were not well prepared for the transition and lacked direction from Te Pūkenga on how to prepare for the transition. In addition, the report stated that Te Pūkenga had been slow to develop its information technology and financial back-office functions in anticipation for the transition. The report warned that the vocational provider might not be financially viable and that the consolidation process could take longer than planned and fail to meet its goals. Following the report's release, chief executive Town stated that Te Pūkenga had accepted all of the review's recommendations and was in the process of implementing them. By contrast, the opposition National Party tertiary education spokesperson Simmonds urged the government to abandon its plan to merge the polytechnics into a national entity and instead invest in struggling institutions.[22]
On 23 June 2022, Te Pūkenga released its first annual report, which covered the period between 1 January and 31 December 2021. According to Town, key achievements for the 2021 academic year included publishing world-leading academic research, producing 48,734 graduates (a 77.5% graduation rate), establishing Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning to facilitate the transition of industry industry, and establishing interim staff, student and Māori committees to aid with the transition.[3] That same day, the Tertiary Education Union describe efforts to consolidate the education curricula of the various polytechnics into a new streamlined curriculum as "rushed and disrespectful." They claimed that consolidation process would do little to address the national shortage of nurses and social workers.[24]
On 8 July 2022, Chief Executive Stephen Town took "personal leave" for unspecified reasons with Te Pūkenga council member Peter Winder serving as acting chief executive in the interim.[25] On 10 July, the Waikato Times reported that a memo by Tertiary Education Commission deputy chief executive Gillian Dudgeon to the Education Minister Hipkins identified several problems facing the national polytechnic provider including a lack of leadership, a deficit of NZ$110 million due to a 12% drop in enrollments compared with 2021 (which exceeded the organisation's budget of NZ$57.5 million), and inaction over improving Te Pūkenga's financial state. The TEC memo also disclosed that chief executive Town was earning an annual salary over NZ$670,000; which exceeded Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's annual salary of NZ$471,049. In response to media coverage, Hipkins defended the transition progress and attributed the low enrolment figures to record low unemployment and plentiful job opportunities.[26]
On 11 July, the National Party's tertiary education spokesperson Simmonds criticised the Te Pūkenga model for failing to improve struggling polytechnics while discouraging good performers. She also criticised the creation of 180 Hamilton head office jobs in the light of 600 projected redundancies resulting from the merger process. According to Simmonds, the Government had spent NZ$200 million on merging the polytechnics into Te Pūkenga. She also suggested that the NZ$110 million deficit was higher than reported. Simmonds claimed that Town's departure on "special leave" was a sign of trouble with the new entity.[27] Similar issues about the centralisation of the polytechnics was also raised by an Otago Daily Times editorial in mid–July 2022 which expressed concerns about its impact on high-performing institutions such as Otago Polytechnic and Southern Institute of Technology. The editorial also described the creation of Te Pūkenga as part of the Labour Government's centralisation policies alongside the former district health boards and the Three Waters reform programme.[28]
In mid-July 2022, the 16 polytechnics and four industrial training organisations commenced "combined branding" to raise awareness of their planned merger into Te Pūkenga in early January 2023. The rebrand was managed by marketing company Clemenger BBDO. Acting CEO Winder stated that the mega polytechnic would provide campus-based, online, and job-based training while reducing duplication of resources and competition between local institutions.[23]
On 27 July, Education Minister Hipkins ruled out calls by former Te Pūkenga senior executive Merran Davis to place a commissioner in charge of the entity at the time. However, he stated that he would reconsider appointing a commissioner to head the organisation.[29]
On 28 July, former Otago Polytechnic chief executive Phil Ker described the Education Minister Chris Hipkins's efforts to merge the polytechnics into a single entity as a "national disgrace," citing Te Pūkenga's beleaguered financial situation and merger transition delays. Ker argued that the reforms failed to address the polytechnic sector's inadequate funding and stated that the merger transition process would lead to extensive staff redundancies across the entire sector. Ker suggested that Te Pūkenga could be revamped as a central agency that provided guidance and education support to the various polytechnics. Hipkins defended his Government's polytechnic merger policy, stating that the previous model had created unnecessary competition and was not delivering the skilled workers that employers and businesses needed. Hipkins stated that the new model would encourage local innovation and improve connections with local businesses to tackle skills shortages.[30]
On 3 August 2022, Chairperson Murray Strong apologised to Te Pūkenga staff members for not listening to their concerns, appreciating their expertise, and for delays in transitioning into a single institution. Strong and acting chief-executive Winder also appeared before Parliament's education select committee to answer questions about delays in the transition process, how it was dealing with its financial constraints, and working with staff members. Strong confirmed that Te Pūkenga was working to reduce its deficit to NZ$50 million and that Winder would oversee the transition process until the end of 2022.[31] These cost-cutting measures have included reducing head office expenses by NZ$8 million.[32]
On 4 August, acting-chief executive Winder indicated that Te Pūkenga would be adopting a "unified fees approach" for all its campuses in the near future. While its subsidiary Southland Institute of Technology would maintain its zero fees policy for the 2023 academic year, this would be discontinued in 2024.[33]
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
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