Axe swings on courses outside uni

By STUART DYE and NZPA

The Government will slash funding and cut student numbers after finding that up to $115 million is being paid for community education of "debatable quality".

Community education costs and enrolments have been rocketing over the past four years, prompting complaints from university leaders that improvements in other areas of tertiary education have been pushed aside.

A spokesman for Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary) Steve Maharey acknowledged the spurt, and said the Government planned to cut both student numbers and subsidies at "tertiary accord" courses, where most of the growth had occurred.

Calling time on a number of courses was also a possibility.

New funding levels and student numbers had been decided but details would not be announced until May because Mr Maharey was in talks with tertiary providers over how to implement the changes.

The cuts would "most likely" take effect from next year, he said.

The popular courses were mainly part-time free computer or language courses, some lasting only a few weeks, at polytechnics in a grouping called the tertiary accord.

One of the most common "scams" - acknowledged by Mr Maharey - was institutions offering free computer training to businesses while classifying the course as community education so as to get funding.

Costs for such courses - classified as 5.1 - have climbed from $16 million and 2776 equivalent full-time students in 2000 to an expected $115 million and 20,000 students this year.

In 2002, costs were $48 million rising to $90 million last year.

The Vice-Chancellors' Committee says the Government ignored a warning given in 2003 about the blow-out.

It has written to the minister expressing "extreme displeasure" at the situation and the flow-on effect to other areas of tertiary education expenditure.

Community education courses were funded at $5707 per equivalent full-time student and had a much lower level of quality control than other programmes, the chancellors said.

Mr Maharey's spokesman denied that planned improvements in other areas of tertiary education had been halted by the spiralling costs.

Association of University Staff president Bill Rosenberg said he was alarmed at the ease with which large amounts of money had been found for courses of debatable quality and purpose.

"The universities, with layers upon layers of quality controls and regulations, are fighting to stand still financially.

"The blow-out in community education funding undermines the credibility of Government claims that it cannot afford to remedy university funding problems," he said.

Mr Maharey has already expressed concern over whether "untargeted growth" in community education courses met the objectives of the Tertiary Education Strategy, which aims to strengthen links between learning and work.

"We're certainly aware that some tertiary institutions have been talking to businesses about how they can provide training, and that it be funded this way, and it would be fair to say that computing for free courses has been a big driver of this growth."

Evening classes in secondary schools would not be affected.

Course blowout

2000: $16 million

2002: $48 million

2004: $115 million (estimated)