Waiariki's youngsters top list for completion

TERTIARY STUDY: Waiariki Institute of Technology. PHOTO/FILE

Rotorua's Waiariki Institute of Technology topped the list of polytechnics for its youth course completion, sitting considerably higher than its collaborative partner, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, which came in last on the list.

Newly-released figures from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) show Waiariki's performance statistics for students who come under the Youth Guarantee fund are at least 20 per cent higher than Tauranga's Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, across three of the four categories.

However, the two institutes, who are considering merging as early as January next year, are on par with each other, show statistics under the Student Achievement Component fund.

Youth Guarantee is funding for foundation learning initiatives such as trade academies and is aimed at domestic students aged 16 to 19 years.

Student Achievement Component is the general tertiary fund subsidised by the government for all other students.

Waiariki holds the number one spot out of 17 polytechnics around the country for course completion under the Youth Guarantee fund and sits in the top three for completion of qualifications.

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic is at the opposite end of the scale, coming in last for course completion and 15th for qualification completion.

Waiariki had 83 per cent of its students successfully complete courses and 75 per cent successfully complete qualifications while Bay of Plenty Polytechnic had 59 per cent and 54 per cent respectively.

Forty-three per cent of Waiariki students progressed on to higher level study in 2014 while only 7 per cent of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic students did.

Waiariki chief executive Margaret Noble said the results were a testament to the hard work of Waiariki tutors.

"A lot of effort is put into supporting our students to achieve, as they continue through to a job or higher level study. Youth Guarantee is particularly important in ensuring students who might not have been able to afford tertiary study can still have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives through education.

"Waiariki has implemented innovative strategies to provide additional support for youth, including additional pastoral and academic support, free transport, and partnerships with iwi and other communities to support success on and off campus."

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic education and Maori development director Kieran Hewitson said there was no hiding the fact that the figures were not good.

"Bay of Plenty Polytechnic acknowledges that our Youth Guarantee results are an anomaly as our Student Achievement Component results are generally good and we have performed well in other years in Youth Guarantee.

"Our relative low numbers of Youth Guarantee Fees Free means a poor performance in one programme has a large impact on our overall performance," she said. "As is our practice, we undertook a review of the programmes that did not meet our required outcomes and a number of measures have been undertaken to ensure the low results will not be repeated."

Ms Hewitson said Youth Guarantee programmes were an important part of the institute's delivery and they would "continue to monitor and review our delivery to ensure we are getting the best outcomes for our students".

Figures relating to achievement levels under the Student Achievement Component fund were relatively similar across the two institutes, with Bay of Plenty Polytechnic sitting between 1 and 8 per cent higher than Waiariki across three of the four categories.

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic had 81 per cent and 72 per cent of students completing courses and qualifications, while Waiariki had 78 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively.