Post Te Pūkenga disestablishment

The consultation process and document for VET reform to replace Te Pūkenga and the accompanying structure of the previous Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) was released today. The consultation period is six weeks.

The recommendations are to enact the current government's objective to replace the large VET entity (Te Pūkenga with a system that restores greater input from regional and industry towards the governance of Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs), create options for the Work Development Councils (WDCs) and Industry Training Organisations (ITOs). As noted and recommended by many other commentators (for example from Roger Smyth and with Phil Ker (ex. CE of Otago Polytechnic) and the Tertiary Education Union), funding mechanisms will need to be reformed and this will be undertaken for the 2026 round.

In essence, the proposal is to provide a mix of granting autonomy to the ITPs who have performed well (i.e. Ara, Southern Institute of Technology) and for the smaller regional ITPs to be clustered and supported by Open Polytechnic under a 'federation arrangement'. WDCs look like they will continue, but perhaps in a different form, there are currently 6 but the proposal sees them going up to possibly 8! and the ITOs being re-organised into similar industry groupings to the WDCs.

There is therefore a return to much of the system pre-RoVE, so I am not sure if there are many gains after 5 years of disruption and the spending of lots of taxpayer funds (sigh). Of note is that the competitive market driven model does not seem to have laid to rest. The proposed model will see the larger ITPs at least, focused on retaining and increasing their student numbers to maintain their viability. For the regional ITPs, there is a risk that there will be fewer choices with regards to delivery modes as these may become, 'study centres' for distance learning rather than campuses offering a range of full-time/hands on learning. It will be important to keep an eye on the tone of the consultation as it will indicate the direction the final structure and system will take. 

From a personal note, there will be little change for my institution if we retain a high autonomous status. Innovations required to meet the challenges to shift pedagogy and outcomes due to the increased adoption of AI across industries will require resourcing. Finding that resource will be a major challenge.