Submission
19
November 2004
To:
Education and Science
Committee Secretariat
Bowen House, Parliament
Buildings, WELLINGTON
Submission
to the Review of Universities
The Education (Establishment
of Universities) Amendment Bill proposes to clarify the
process for determining the establishment of universities.
The Education (Tertiary Reform) Amendment Act 2002 established
that new universities must be in the interests of (i)
the tertiary education system and (ii) the nation as a
whole as well as meet the academic standards of a University.
This Bill will make (i) and (ii) the priority in the decision-making
allowing the Minister to make an adverse determination
on the basis of the (i), (ii) priority alone.
The key areas RWNZ
would like to comment on the following:
Limit
the number of Universities
New Zealand has
8 Universities for a population of 4 Million people. The
question is should a lid be placed on the number of Universities
in NZ? Competition between universities is seen as healthy
to provide a high level of education, advancement in research
and foster academic progress. As University campuses have
expanded to other areas of New Zealand there is greater
selection of subjects for students to study and a healthy
level of competition in terms of subject matter, fees
paid and quality provided.
A cap on university
numbers would not stimulate this environment of improvement
in education standards or seek to explore specialist areas
such as agriculture and horticulture.
Ministerial
Powers
As Agriculture
and Horticulture subjects have suffered under the current
ministerial regime by the removal of Agriculture and Horticulture
from the NCEA scholarship level, RWNZ does not advocate
for widening of Ministerial powers. One of the objectives
of the bill should be to provide industry with the skills
required. There is a degree of future planning and consultation
required. This amendment does not provide for industry
skills, such as rural industries, to be enhanced and yet
there is a shortage of skilled personnel in this area
of applied science.
A further case
to note with agriculture is that removal of Agriculture
and Horticulture from the scholarship level of NCEA precludes
those high- achieving students from specialization in
secondary school, which translates to fewer students in
the appropriate degree courses. This has occurred despite
the lack of skilled graduates in this field and the difficulty
rural industries have in holding on to graduates. Given
that Agriculture /Hort/Forestry produces 65% of NZ's GDP,
this is an issue.
Further we have
observed the Education review system to promote centralized
and therefore urbanized educational institutes for our
rural children. Therefore the future generations are not
being skilled and the technical area of Agriculture is
relegated as low skilled and of little importance.
Should
there be two types of University? –Universities of Technology
and traditional universities
Technology universities
have existed in the form of Lincoln and Massey University
which had strong technology backgrounds. Over the years,
to survive the competitive arena that they found themselves
in, they needed to attract more students for funding and
resources. This is commercial reality driving the Universities
to diversify into traditional areas of commerce etc to
attract student numbers.
Therefore significant
funds would need to be available to rebuild the technical
and research capacity to accommodate a two tiered system.
It would allow specialization and provide an excellent
environment for students to learn in if the best of the
best in technical fields were available.
Internationally
this would be of benefit to universities, especially agriculture
and horticulture, who have lost their research and technical
brains to higher paying overseas research institutes.
For example a lead NZ Animal Geneticist is currently employed
in America, which has been a loss to New Zealand's competitive
edge in this field as well as to our industry progress.
Summary
Industry requirements
for University educated graduates should be an additional
objective of the amendment. Increased Ministerial powers
will not address these issues. RWNZ note the current centralization
of the education system into urban areas, removal of Agricultural
subjects for scholarship level at NCEA and the lack of
investment in technology as contributing to the lack of
skilled personnel in Agriculture.
Investment in technology,
specifically agriculture, is essential to the industry
good. A two tiered system of University would accommodate
the industry needs of increasing the profile of the profession,
being at the forefront of research and providing leadership
in this area.
Rural
Women New Zealand
PO
Box 12021
Thorndon
Phone
04 473 5524
E-Mail
: Jo-Anne.Stokes@ruralwomen.org.nz
website; www.ruralwomen.org
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