A whakatauki with a metaphor of trees supporting each other through an intertwined root system was the starting point for the Tertiary Education Commission’s introduction to their ITP Roadmap 2020 project on Thursday.
A group from the TEC spent the day at Unitec talking to Council, the extended leadership team, staff, students and community stakeholders about the ITP sector’s challenges and the purpose of the Roadmap project.
They talked about the trend of falling enrolments that saw a 5000 EFTS drop across the ITP sector between 2017 and 2018, and asked the Unitec groups:
- What’s unique about Unitec?
- What’s your view of the future for Unitec, your roles and the wider sector?
About six people attended the community meeting – most notable were the representatives from Mt Albert Grammar and St Dominic’s high schools who were hugely complimentary of Unitec’s work. They said there was strong demand for the courses we offer high school students and they could be sending far more students if the funding was increased. They see great value in Unitec as a central hub, providing the expertise, facilities, and cutting-edge technology which would not be affordable if each school had to set up a similar capability by itself.
The TEC is running a series of similar events across the sector and this consultation process will help to inform the recommendations being made to the Minister in September / October, who will then report back to Cabinet in December.
If you’ve got any questions about the project or have any comments to add to the conversation, please email: itproadmap@tec.govt.nz