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Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata have congratulated the twelve New Zealanders who are recipients of New Year’s Honours for their services to education.

“I’d like to congratulate the 2016 recipients for the valuable contribution they’ve made to education in New Zealand and internationally,” Mr Joyce says. “It’s great to see some of the best being honoured for their services.”

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has today announced the Ministerial appointments to the governing council of the new tertiary institution for Canterbury, which merges Aoraki Polytechnic and Christchurch Institute of Technology (CPIT).

The Ministerial appointees are Jenn Bestwick as Chair of the new institution, Janie Annear as Deputy Chair, and Elizabeth Hopkins and Stephen Collins as council members. 

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced two new appointments to the Northland Polytechnic (NorthTec) council.

“I am pleased to welcome Wayne Jackson and Bronwyn Yates into their new roles at NorthTec. They are both high-calibre appointees who bring valuable knowledge and experience to the council,” Mr Joyce says.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Minister for Pacific Peoples Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga have announced $763,000 funding for the Pasifika Education Centre in South Auckland.

“The Pasifika Education Centre (PEC) did not qualify for the full amount of the contestable Adult and Community Education (ACE) funding which it applied for, but I consider the work the centre does around Pacific languages and cultural education boosts Pasifika skills and is in the national interest to be funded,” Mr Joyce says.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce leaves for the United States tomorrow on the inaugural Air New Zealand flight to Houston, Texas.

“Houston is the fourth largest city in the US and a major airline hub for the southern and eastern United States,” says Mr Joyce. “It is hugely exciting to see our national carrier flying there and reaching into the middle of the continental US for the first time.

The Government has committed to a further five and a half years of support to help small businesses grow through its Regional Business Partner programme, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Small Business Minister Craig Foss announced today.

Regional Business Partners are local hubs of business development know-how and research and development (R&D) expertise for companies.

Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce and Minister for Social Development Anne Tolley have welcomed the launch of the Canterbury Farm Capability Society Group Employment and Training Scheme for farm workers.

“The scheme is a collaboration between Government and industry to address the skills shortages in dairy farming and increase employment opportunities for New Zealanders,” says Mr Joyce. 

All-of-Government procurement contracts are now estimated to be saving $699 million for participating government agencies and taxpayers, an increase on June’s forecast figure of $415 million, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

“The increase in forecast savings is due to improved supplier engagement, greater efficiencies and the implementation of more new contracts,” Mr Joyce says.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has today announced his intention to establish a new polytechnic in the Bay of Plenty that will better service the tertiary education needs of the Bay of Plenty region.

Both Waiariki Institute of Technology (Waiariki) and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic (BoPP) will be disestablished and merged into the new institution from May 2016.

The Government will invest $8.4 million over seven years in a research partnership that could transform New Zealand’s wool industry, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy announced today.

The Wool Industry Research Ltd (WIRL) partnership “New Uses for Wool” is co-funded by the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand and worth $21 million overall.

The 2015 Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia have been awarded to 152 students from across New Zealand.

“These scholarships are a special opportunity for young New Zealanders to study, conduct research, or take up internships in countries that are hugely important to New Zealand, both today and in the future,” says Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce.

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

“I am pleased to welcome high-calibre council appointees into their new roles. I also welcome the reappointment of a number of council members in recognition of the high-quality governance they have been providing to these institutions,” Mr Joyce says.

“I also wish to recognise the valuable contribution made by outgoing council members and to thank them for their service.”

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today launched the Healthier Lives National Science Challenge, which aims to reduce the financial burden of major health problems, with funding of up to $31.3 million over 10 years.

“This Science Challenge will place New Zealand as a world leader in the delivery of equitable healthcare for non-communicable diseases,” Mr Joyce says. “It will seek better prevention, diagnosis and treatment methods for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, with a burden reduction target of 25 per cent by 2025.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has welcomed the release of a report which aligns the levels of the qualifications frameworks of New Zealand and Australia. 

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today the appointment of a new member to the Marsden Fund Council.

Emeritus Professor Carolyn Burns joined the Council for three years from December 1 and will convene the Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour Panel.

“Emeritus Professor Burns is a well respected scientist with strong leadership, governance experience and an excellent research track record,” Mr Joyce says.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has welcomed the latest International Education Snapshot Report which shows international student enrolments have increased 13 per cent over the January-August period when compared with 2014.

There were 104,418 international students in New Zealand in the first eight months of this year, 11,760 more enrolments when compared with 2014.

Seven science and business teams have been awarded National Science Challenge funding worth $7 million to transform current knowledge of high-value foods, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The successful proposals will each receive $1 million over the next three years from the first contestable funding round of the High-Value Nutrition Science Challenge, one of 11 National Science Challenges dedicated to breaking new ground in key areas of science.

A pioneering Kiwi-German artificial limb project has been recognised by Europe’s largest applied research institution, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

The Bionic Joint project, developed by the University of Auckland’s Bio-engineering Institute and the Fraunhofer IPA, has been awarded ICON status by Germany’s Fraunhofer Society, which will provide additional support and funding.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister John Key in Berlin today.

New Zealand’s screen and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industries stand to benefit from technology developed by VorTech, the winner of Callaghan Innovation’s inaugural C-PRIZE competition, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said today.

Launched in April, the first C-PRIZE competition aimed to boost New Zealand’s position as world-leader in the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology and help keep the country's innovative screen industry at the cutting-edge.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has today announced changes to student loan borrowing for long undergraduate programmes in medicine, optometry, dentistry and veterinary science.

From next year all eligible graduate-entry students in these long undergraduate programmes will be able to apply for an extra 1 EFTS of student loan support on top of the 7 EFTS they can already access. This extra 1 EFTS was previously only available to help graduate students complete post-graduate qualifications.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse have announced a new student visa designed to make New Zealand more competitive for retaining and attracting top international students.

The Pathway Student Visa will allow international students to undertake a pathway of up to three consecutive programmes of study with selected education providers. A pathway can be offered by a single education provider or in partnership with other selected education providers. They will be valid for a maximum of five years.

Opportunities for more investment, more jobs and better incomes for the West Coast will be the focus of a comprehensive economic study announced today by Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy.

A brand new Trades Academy will open in Southland next year, meaning secondary school students in every region of the country will now have the opportunity to gain practical skills while studying towards NCEA credits and tertiary qualifications, Ministe

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced nearly $1 million of new funding to 25 additional projects around the country to engage more young Kiwis with science and technology under the Unlocking Curious Minds contestable fund pilot.

“There was very high demand for the pilot programme, and I am pleased to be able to announce this additional funding for a second tranche of innovative projects to engage the public with science and technology,” Mr Joyce says.