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Minister of Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce has welcomed the release of the 2012 Education Performance Indicators, which show continued strong performance by tertiary providers for their students.

“The changes we have made to the tertiary education sector to reward performance, instead of just getting “bums on seats”, are continuing to work,” Mr Joyce says. “More students are staying in study, achieving credits and qualifications, and progressing further.”

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today welcomed the Tertiary Education Commission’s decision to support Auckland University of Technology’s (AUT) Manukau Campus expansion.

The expansion, which will see the number of Equivalent Full Time Students (EFTS) at AUT increase from the current 940 EFTS to 4,100 EFTS by 2020, will play a key role in providing greater tertiary education options in the south Auckland region.

More young New Zealanders are succeeding in education with further progress towards achieving the Government’s Better Public Service [BPS] results targets.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata say the Government’s drive for greater NCEA success is showing strong results that are making a real difference for young people.

Result 5: Increase the proportion of 18-year-olds with NCEA Level 2 or equivalent qualification

Enrolment numbers in New Zealand’s tertiary education sector for the first four months of this year have dropped in line with forecasts.

Under the Single Data Return (SDR) reporting system comparing April 2012 to April 2013, the figures show:

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced appointments to seven tertiary education councils.

There are six new council member including two new appointments to the council of the Victoria University of Wellington. There are also new council members and reappointments to six polytechnic councils.

The appointments and reappointments of council members are:

• Victoria University of Wellington council: new appointments of Mr Neville Jordan and Mr Neil Paviour-Smith, both appointed to 31 May 2017

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata today welcomed the OECD’s latest education report, saying the findings show New Zealand continues to deliver a world-class education.

Education at a Glance 2013 compares education in 34 OECD and eight other countries, using data from 2010 and 2011.

According to the report, New Zealand is:

E nga matawaka e tau mai nei i tenei ata ki Te Kunenga ki Purehuroa, tena koutou katoa.

Nga mihi o te Tau Hou Maori ki a tatou katoa.

I am pleased and proud to be here today to launch the Maori and Pasifika@Massey University strategies.

Colombia’s Vice Minister of Education is visiting New Zealand with a delegation of senior government and business representatives for talks to build education connections between the two countries.

Vice Minister of Education, Patrizia Martinez Barrios’ visit, which began yesterday, is a significant extension of the relationship between New Zealand and Colombia, strengthened during Prime Minister John Key’s recent trip to Latin America.

Budget 2013 focuses on providing the maximum possible level of support for students in the early years of tertiary study and those from low-income families, while ensuring the system is sustainable for taxpayers.

The Government has today announced a number of changes to student allowances to continue to rein in the big increases in expenditure by the previous government.

Budget 2013 commits over $130 million over four years in new funding for investment in tertiary education, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

Budget 2013 invests $40 million over the next four years in marketing and promoting New Zealand’s international education industry, as the country targets doubling the value of international education to $5 billion by 2025.

Budget 2013 will target overseas-based student loan borrowers with new initiatives to increase repayments and reduce defaulting, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne say.

“Overseas-based borrowers are continuing to let the side down with slow repayments and high levels of loan defaults, compared to those who stay in New Zealand and pay off their loans,” Mr Joyce says.

New Zealand’s tertiary sector continued to sustain a strong financial performance in 2012 reflecting the increasing size of the Government’s investment, latest figures from the Tertiary Education Commission show.

Indicative financial results show that the publicly-owned tertiary institutions collectively recorded a net surplus (before unusual and non-recurring items) of $157.9 million in 2012, an increase of 43 per cent since 2008.

A major expansion of Māori and Pasifika Trades Training to 3,000 places as part of Budget 2013 was announced today by Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce, and Associate Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Tariana Turia. 

There are currently 600 places spread across the existing He Toki ki te Rika and Pasifika Trades schemes, which were set up by the current Government in 2011.

The latest student loan statistics show that the gap between the repayment rates of New Zealand-based borrowers and overseas-based borrowers continues to grow, despite overall lifts in the number of people paying off their loans.

Overseas-based borrowers make up 60 per cent of the 84,562 borrowers in default as at March 31 this year, despite comprising only 15 per cent of the borrowing population. They are responsible for 82 per cent of the $520 million currently in default.

E te iwi e tau mai nei ki Whitireia i tēnei ahiahi, tēnā rā koutou katoa. Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Kia orana, Bula vinaka, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Namaste, Malo ni, Halo ola keta, Mauri, Fakatalofa atu.

The drop in the unemployment rate from 6.9 per cent to 6.2 per cent in the March quarter is encouraging news, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

The Household Labour Force Survey released today showed that 38,000 more people were employed in the quarter.

“The result follows news the economy grew 3 per cent in the year to December and is another sign the economy is continuing to head in the right direction,” Mr Joyce says.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today welcomed the launch of a New Zealand television documentary series Dragons in the Land of the Long White Cloud in Beijing.

The two-part series is intended to screen on national television in China, which has an audience of around 650 million viewers. It will provide a window into New Zealand’s education experience and lifestyle, as well as provide prospective students and their families with information on taking action to study in New Zealand.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today welcomed the release of a report into the Performance-Based Research Fund that shows the quality of research in our tertiary organisations continues to improve.

The purpose of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) is to ensure excellent research in the tertiary education sector is encouraged and rewarded.

New Zealand and China yesterday signed a strategic education partnership agreement in Beijing.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce signed the agreement with China’s Education Minister, Yuan Guiren, following bilateral talks between Prime Minister John Key and new Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today launched the Chinese language version of the classic New Zealand children’s book Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy, at an education event in Shanghai.

The Hairy Maclary series, first published in 1983, has sold more than nine million copies worldwide. 

“Hairy Maclary is a much loved character in New Zealand, and he and his friends have helped many Kiwi children to develop their reading skills at an early age,” Mr Joyce says. 

The Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment, Steven Joyce today announced the reappointment of 23 council members to 12 polytechnic councils and two university councils, and a new appointment to the Waikato Institute of Technology council.

The reappointments are:

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata have this morning launched the final Vocational Pathway publications, allowing senior secondary and foundation tertiary students to make more informed decisions about how their learning choices relate to future employment possibilities.

“These publications highlight the areas of learning that different industries value, allowing students to build a profile of learning that includes the relevant skills and knowledge that employers are looking for,” Mr Joyce says.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced the appointments of Nigel Gould and Christopher Mace to the Tertiary Education Commission board.

Mr Gould, of Wellington, has 30 years’ governance experience in the public and private sector. Mr Mace, of Auckland, is the Chair of NIWA and has been a director of more than 50 companies.