The merger of the Bay's two largest tertiary institutions has come under scrutiny from Labour's David Cunliffe (pictured), who says the country's polytechnics are under funding pressure.
The Bay of Plenty Times reported on June 17 that the Bay of Plenty's two largest tertiary institutes, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and
Waiariki Institute of Technology, were looking to merge by the beginning of next year.
Mr Cunliffe, Labour's tertiary education spokesman, said the institutes were the latest victims of National's "chronic underfunding of regional polytechs" and that they were being "forced to merge".
He said he hoped the merger was happening for the right reasons, to serve the Bay's students better, and not because of funding cuts to polytechnics throughout the country.
"Their funding has been cut and has been under pressure for some time.
