What tertiary education can do for New Zealand
The reforms and new investment system are a deliberate attempt to place quality ahead of quantity within tertiary education.
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Address to Tertiary Education Commission stakeholder function, InterContinental Hotel, Wellington
We're here today in large part because tertiary education is going through one of the most significant periods of change the sector has seen.
We have lowered the financial barriers to participation in tertiary education that students face. Now we are turning our attention to investing in the capability of institutions.
We are reconfiguring our tertiary sector to make it much better driven by those who have a stake in it.
We want a sector much more responsive to the needs of those who have a stake in it.
There is more focus on the quality of what we produce and our economic and social priorities.
In particular, we have an urgent need to develop more skills.
Skills make a difference. Skills are crucial to higher incomes for individuals. Skills are key to transforming our economy.
It is no coincidence that I am both the Finance Minister and the Minister of Tertiary Education. As Finance Minister I am concerned with the government's vision of a highly skilled, innovative economy capable of competing in a globalised world.
The tertiary sector holds the key to realising that future for New Zealand.
Ahead of us we can see a world where the demand for skills will only increase. As economies become ever more sophisticated and ever more integrated, we will compete for skilled and talented people against countries all over the globe.
To play its part in realising that vision, our tertiary sector needs to be equipped to provide world-class education, skills and research.
Skills are important not only for our overall economic wellbeing; they make the critical difference in life outcomes for individuals, too. The single most crucial difference we can make for people in low-income homes is to develop their skills.
Skills put people in demand. Skills attract job opportunities. Skills give people a stake in their community and a sense of valuable contribution.
That's the difference tertiary education can make for New Zealand.
The changes we are making to the tertiary sector will help it to deliver more of the skills New Zealand needs today and will need increasingly in the future.
The reforms will not be a one-size-fits-all solution.
Universities, wananga, institutes of technology and polytechnics, industry training organisations and private training establishments all have distinctive and important roles. Some issues are common to all, but the system will recognise distinctive contributions. Each institution will be able to focus more on what's important for their students to achieve.
There are many other groups, and individuals, communities and businesses with a stake in upskilling New Zealand.
Last week the government, the Council of Trade Unions and Business New Zealand signed an agreement to further drive skill development.
We look to the wider tertiary sector to engage with these groups and respond to current and future skill needs.
Working in partnership will increase understanding of the challenges of workforce skill development.
The tertiary sector reforms will equip tertiary education with a funding framework and quality assurance arrangements that better support quality, rather than quantity, as the sector's focus.
And on that note I want to pay tribute to the role TEC is playing in leading the reforms.
The reforms are substantial. They affect every tertiary institution and every stakeholder in all those many diverse institutions.
It is a tribute to Janice Shiner and the Commission that the reforms have proceeded efficiently and smoothly.
The Commission allocates some $2.7 billion dollars a year.
Under the new reforms it is working with tertiary organisations to put together Investment Plans showing how they will meet the priorities of the communities they serve.
The Commission is looking to improve the capability and capacity of tertiary education and training, so that the tertiary sector is better aligned with New Zealand's economic and social goals.
This is a demanding and crucial pivot in the system, and it is a role best exercised by a dedicated organisation - not swamped inside the priorities of another department or agency.
I urge you all here tonight to appreciate the good work the commission does. It is not an easy task bringing change to so many diverse institutions, but it is important that tertiary education organisations realise the value of constructive engagement with your investment managers.
I would also encourage employers, communities, iwi and students to engage with your stakeholder managers. This is an important process. For the first time you have an avenue to influence the value we will get from the investment in tertiary education. This process has to work if we are to achieve our goal of enhancing the quality and relevance of tertiary education.
For the earlier part of the reforms, the Commission was chaired by Russell Marshall. In June he retired from his position, after making an outstanding contribution to education in New Zealand over more than thirty years.
As you know, Russell and I go back many years and I have appreciated his leadership and wisdom in helping to reshape the sector. Russell chaired the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission which gave birth to the TEC and since then has been instrumental in overseeing the TEC during the most significant reform the tertiary education sector has ever seen. I will genuinely miss his wise counsel on the many complex matters we have had to grapple with.
I wish you Russell and your wife Barbara all the best during the more restful years ahead.
Can I also thank Jim Donovan who has been acting Chair these past few months. Jim is a valued member of the commission who brings great insight to his role through his extensive business experience.
Today I am pleased to announce the appointment of David Shand as the new chair of the Commission who will take up the position on 27 August.
David is a highly capable individual who has had extensive experience in public sector finance and in public sector organisation.
The chair of the TEC needs governance experience, experience of government, leadership skills, a passion for tertiary education and the capacity to learn the subtleties of the policy. David's background equips him well for this job.
He is on the board of Meridian Energy and chairs the Commission of Inquiry into Rating. Previously, David worked as a public financial management specialist at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington. He has also worked with the OECD on public sector reforms.
He has been an academic as well. He taught accounting and public finance at Victoria University before moving to the Australian National University. David has also taught at the University of Washington and Georgetown University in the United States.
Ahead of David and the Tertiary Education Commission is the challenge of tailoring funding packages to the individual circumstances of institutions, and supporting their role in the network of provision.
The reforms and new investment system are a deliberate attempt to place quality ahead of quantity within tertiary education.
That is what will create skills needed to transform New Zealand's economy and steer our communities into the future.
I wish you all the best with those responsibilities