Polytechnics to carry hundreds of unfunded students that subsidies won’t cover

Source: Radio New Zealand

Some newly-independent polytechnics will carry hundreds of unfunded students as they enrol more than the Tertiary Education Commission can subsidise.

The Tertiary Education Union warns it is happening after extensive cuts and staff across the sector are stretched and stressed.

Eleven institutes left super institute Te Pūkenga and became stand-alone entities at the start of this year though two, Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) and Unitec, were considered one organisation under a single governing council.

They told RNZ they were forecasting financial surpluses this year and most reported enrolments similar to the same time last year.

Several including EIT and the Open Polytechnic said total enrolments for the year were expected to exceed the number the commission had agreed to fund but they had approval to enrol un-subsidised students.

Universities reported a similar situation last month.

Meanwhile Te Pūkenga said enrolments were down six percent across the four institutes remaining within the organisation and it had budgeted for a $16-million deficit.

It said enrolments at Northtec and Western Institute of Technology at Taranak (WITT) were about the same as last year, but enrolments at Whitireia and Weltec were down eight percent, and Tai Poutini on the West Coast of the South Island had fewer than 100 students.

Tertiary Education Union national secretary Amy Ross said its members reported high workloads.

“Ultimately, our polytech members are feeling extremely under the pump. There is a crisis in terms of staffing in many areas because they’re being asked to do more with a lot less in many situations and they’re exhausted, the constant restructure and change has been incredibly debilitating for members,” she said.

Ross said the institutes were under pressure from the Tertiary Education Commission and government which expected them to run like a business.

She said carrying unfunded enrolments put more pressure on staff.

“It means bigger class sizes because there’s no accompanying funding to get more staffing, which puts our members under huge pressure,” she said.

“There’s no extra pastoral care, learning support staff, any of the structures put in place because they’re not funded.”

Ross said no staff felt safe in their jobs because of recent cuts at polytechnics.

EIT balancing enrolments

The Eastern Institute of Technology, EIT, forecast one of the highest levels of un-subsidised enrolments.

It had 2444 domestic equivalent full-time students (EFTS) to date and expected to exceed the number of enroments agreed with the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) by about 10 percent which would give it 210 unfunded EFTS.

It said enrolments at degree level and above had increased and enrolments in level 1-2 certificates had fallen.

EIT chief executive Lucy Laitinen said unfunded enrolments created a dilemma for the organisation.

“We don’t want to turn away students. So as much as we can, we try to bring students in anyway and we effectively just absorb the costs,” she said.

“But in terms of what hits the bottom line, that’s the equivalent of about $2.2 million of funding that we’re not receiving. So we have to weigh up all the time ‘can we afford to absorb those extra costs’.”

The situation was complicated by the fact students in degrees would be enrolled at the institute for three years, creating the risk that it would have to carry unfunded students for multiple years.

Laitinen said EIT talked regularly to TEC about the issue.

“They know that our demand’s well above what our allocation is and we think that we’ve got a special case to plead there too considering that we’ve had quite a bounce back now since Cyclone Gabrielle,” she said.

However, the commission did not have any extra funding.

“They’ve made it clear there’s no new funding, but if there are other institutions that are not using up their allocations, there may be an argument, I guess, to shift funding. We’d definitely have our hands up for that,” she said.

EIT had 459 international EFTS, some at a campus in Auckland, and further students enrolled in partnership with two Chinese universities.

Other institutes reported enrolments similar to the same time last year though several did not indicate whether they expected to exceed agreed enrolments or carry unfunded domestic students.

The Open Polytechnic said it had 5194 domestic EFTS at the start of April.

It expected all its non-degree enrolments would be subsidised by the commission, but it expected to exceed agreed enrolments at degree level and above by six percent with four percent unfunded.

MIT and Unitec in Auckland had 3449 and 3291 domestic students respectively and a further 407 international students at MIT and 1026 at Unitec.

Waikato institute Wintec said it had 3047 domestic EFTS and 718 internationals.

It said its new enrolments were up six percent on the same time last year with more school-leavers and more enrolments in Māori and Pacific Trades Training.

Toi Ohomai, the institute covering Bay of Plenty and South Waikato said it had 3107 domestic EFTS, 2.2 percent more than the same time last yaer with approval to enrol to 113 percent of its agreed EFTS at diploma and degree level giving it about 100 unfunded EFTS.

It expected to enrol to 102 percent at qualification level 3-7 (certificate and diploma), all of which would be funded.

Toi Ohomai also had 453 international EFTS.

Lower North Island institute Universal College of Learning (UCOL) said it had 2149 domestic EFTS, more than the same time last year, and 137 international EFTS.

It said it was on track to meet its funded targets and had no planned unfunded enrolments.

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) said its 1701 domestic EFTS was very close to the same time last year and it had a further 232 international EFTS.

Ara in Canterbury said it had 5602 domestic EFTS and 451 internationals. It expected to exceed its agreed domestic enrolments by three percent.

“The extent to which any EFTS may be unfunded is still being assessed,” it said.

Otago Polytehnic had 3784 domestic EFTS, four percent more than the same time last year and 113 international EFTS with a further 367 at its campus in Auckland.

Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) said it had 2685 EFTS, about the same as at the same time last year, and 225 international EFTS.

It was aiming to enrol to 102 percent of its agreed domestic students, all funded by the government, with a budgeted surplus of $660,000.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand