3. ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tāmaki) Link to this
to the Minister for Tertiary Education
What actions has the Government taken to increase student places at universities?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education) Link to this
I am pleased to report to the House that the Government will invest a further $55 million to fund almost 3,000 more university undergraduate places over the next 2 years, in response to higher demand for undergraduate places. That increase in places will help the wider economy as we ramp up the number of graduates, which we are doing over time, and we are expecting at least 20 percent more graduates in 2013 than in recent times. The number of full-time places funded at universities next year will be the highest ever, at about 119,000. That is over 7,000 more than 3 years ago, and it has all been achieved within existing appropriations.
The extra funding comes from changes announced last week to lift the performance and accountability of the industry training sector, as well as to reprioritise underspending in that area. This shift in funding is part of the Government’s push to get higher productivity out of the $4 billion we spend annually on tertiary education. It also reflects the nature of the economic cycle as New Zealand recovers from recession. There remains strong demand for full-time training places, and currently there is less demand for industry-based training.
Grant RobertsonCan the Minister confirm that the funding cut from industry training would have supported 55,000 industry trainees, and is robbing Peter to pay Paul the best we will get from this National Government?
I can confirm a number of things about the industry training budget, including the fact that it has nearly trebled over the last 10 years. As a result, the Tertiary Education Commission has done exactly the right thing—it has looked for value for money in that appropriation, and it has made some changes to operational policies in order to maximise the number of credits achieved in industry training. I struggle with the member’s concept, because he seems to be saying we should never shift any appropriations from one thing to another and we should just blindly keep spending—which I struggle with hugely.