”A strong, modern and dynamic ITP sector is crucial to achieving a world-class skills system across all New Zealand’s regions.’’

The Minister said that the 16 ITPs around the country were crucial for vocational training. They accounted for about 20 percent of total government spending in tertiary teaching and learning, but over the past decade domestic student numbers have dropped by a third.

He said that over the next six months the Tertiary Education Commission would work with ITPs and the broader community, to explore and test different options for change. This would include looking at what has been done in other countries and what that might look like in New Zealand.

“This process is was about securing a strong regional presence for ITPs. We want to make sure they can deliver what New Zealand learners and employers need.”

At the same time, the Ministry of Education is conducting a wider review of vocational education and training (VET). This review will take place alongside the ITP sector reform. It will clarify what the skills system should be producing, who should pay, and how the funding and regulatory systems can best support meeting our skill needs across the system as a whole.

Cabinet paper – Approach to reforms of the institutes of technology and polytechnic subsector (Ministry of Education website)