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The government has moved to give Canterbury’s tertiary institutions greater financial certainty as they work to recover from the effects of the September and February earthquakes.

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce says the government’s 2012 funding commitments, which were made prior to the September 4 2010 earthquake, will be met despite an expected decrease in enrolments.

Budget 2011 will provide up to $42 million for trades training for the Canterbury region, Tertiary education Minister Steven Joyce says.

Funding is being set aside for up to 1500 additional training places as part of a comprehensive cross-agency response to meet additional demand for labour for the reconstruction programme called “Skills for Canterbury”.

The Skills for Canterbury package includes:

The Minister for Tertiary Education, Steven Joyce, is asking students and trainees enrolled with tertiary education institutions in Christchurch to keep in touch with their providers to ensure they are abreast of reopening plans.

He says the city’s larger publicly funded institutions, which have all been closed since the February 22 earthquake, will all start to open their doors again to students next week.

Lincoln, which sustained little significant damage from the February earthquake, is planning to reopen to all students for semester one on Monday (14 March).

Christchurch's two universities are well-advanced with their plans to re-open progressively following the February 22nd earthquake, says Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce who visited Christchurch again today.

Lincoln University will be open for all staff today, and postgraduate research students are being encouraged to begin contacting their supervisors. Lincoln aims to be fully operational by March 14.

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has this afternoon expressed grave concern for the staff and students of Kings Education, a private training establishment located on the third floor of the collapsed CTV Building.

Kings Education is an international education private training establishment with students from a number of countries around the world.

Mr Joyce has spoken with Kings Education Director John Ryder to offer any additional support the government can give.

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has today met with managers of some Canterbury tertiary education providers affected by Saturday's earthquake.