Bay of Plenty Polytechnic CEO Dr Alan Hampton says the government’s plan to slash the number of qualifications in New Zealand by 25 per cent is “entirely achievable”.
The government has proposed a performance based model for tertiary education funding that would mean a reduction in the number of qualifications offered.
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic CEO DR Alan Hampton.
Alan says for a country the size of New Zealand, there are far too many qualifications listed with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
“A significant number of the 6000 qualifications listed with NZQA are either duplicate or are no longer being offered by the ITP (institutes of technology and polytechnics) sector,” says Minister for Tertiary Education Steven Joyce.
Another reason given for reducing the number of qualifications is that many have pass levels below 50 per cent.
BOP Polytechnic did not respond to questions asking if any of its courses had pass levels below 50 per cent.
Steven also indicated that five to 10 per cent of government funding a tertiary institute receives will be linked to student performance and dropout rates.
Alan says success and retention rates for Bay of Plenty Polytechnic compare favourably with other ITPs in the country.
He says the polytechnic has developed a range of strategies to enable continued improvement of student completion rates, including seeking to close any gap that may exist between Maori and non-Maori students.
“There is no argument against government and society obtaining value for money.
“Student outcomes should be a key measure or indicator of an institute’s performance.
“However, the challenge for New Zealand and the ITP sector in particular is ensuring that the proposed performance-based model does not disadvantage those learners who might need extra support to succeed, such as second chance and mature learners.”