OECD THEMATIC REVIEW OF TERTIARY EDUCATION New Zealand Country Background Report This report was prepared by the New Zealand Ministry of Education as an input to the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education. The document was prepared in response to guidelines the OECD provided to all participating countries. The guidelines encouraged the authors to canvass a breath of views and priorities on tertiary education issues. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the New Zealand government, the Ministry of Education, the OECD, or its member countries. The New Zealand Ministry of Education January 2006 Preface This background report for the OECD review of the New Zealand tertiary education system was written by Ministry of Education staff: Roger Smyth, Jason McClelland, Paul Lister, Kyla Steenhart, and independent contractors: Allan Sargison (Tertiary Advice Ltd.), Keith Westwater (Westwater Hobbs Consulting), Nicholas Green and Nyk Huntingdon. The report was edited by Christine Williams (Wordsmiths). The writing of the report was actively supported by the Ministry of Education Advisory Committee comprising key policy staff and the National Advisory Committee comprising representatives of various stakeholders in the New Zealand tertiary education system. These committees were central in providing information and perspectives, and in commenting upon earlier versions of the report. The Ministry of Education Advisory Committee consisted of: Jane von Dadelszen, Caroline Holmes, Peter Mellor, Nick Montague, Frances Kelly, Neil Scotts, Elizabeth Eppel, Paula Rawiri, Paul Lister and Rob Maclean. The National Advisory Committee consisted of: Susan Kosmala, Nilanka Fonseka (Careers Services), Lesley Haines (Department of Labour), Tony Davies, Dillon Burke, Jo Doyle (New Zealand Qualifications Authority), Dr Colin Webb (Tertiary Education Commission), Claire Douglas, Paul O’Connell (The Treasury), Lloyd Woods (Association of Staff in Tertiary Education), Matt Davies (Aotearoa Tertiary Students’ Association), Andrew Kirton (New Zealand University Students’ Association), Rebecca Matthews, Erin Polaczuk (Association of University Staff of New Zealand), Jim Doyle (The Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics of New Zealand) and Lindsay Taiaroa (New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee). Elizabeth Eppel of the Ministry of Education chaired the meetings. Other stakeholders were also canvassed for comment as required. Namely: Dave Geurin (Independent Tertiary Institutions), Jan Esquilant (Ministry of Research, Science and Technology), Kellie Coombes (Ministry of Social Development) and Turoa Royal (Te Tau Ihu nga Wānanga - association of Wānanga). The Manager of Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis and Reporting, Roger Smyth, was the National Co-ordinator for the review. Wellington, January 2006 The Ministry of Education 2 Content List of figures and tables............................................................................................................4 Glossary of terms.......................................................................................................................6 List of acronyms ......................................................................................................................13 Executive summary..................................................................................................................15 Chapter 1: The national context of tertiary education .......................................................23 Chapter 2: Overall description of the tertiary education system .......................................27 Chapter 3: The tertiary education system and the labour market ......................................39 Chapter 4: The regional role of tertiary education.............................................................48 Chapter 5: The role of tertiary education in research and innovation................................56 Chapter 6: Achieving equity in and through tertiary education.........................................68 Chapter 7a: Resourcing the tertiary education system ........................................................81 Chapter 7b: The tertiary education workforce in New Zealand ........................................101 Chapter 8: Planning and regulating the system ...............................................................107 Chapter 9: Assuring and improving the quality of tertiary education .............................119 Chapter 10: Internationalisation of tertiary education .......................................................127 Chapter 11: Conclusion .....................................................................................................135 References…………………………………………………………………………………...138 Annex 1: The objectives of the Tertiary Education Strategy 2002/07...........................144 Annex 2: Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities: 2005-2007 .................................147 Annex 3: Chronology of key reforms of the New Zealand tertiary education system ..181 Annex 4: The state of play in tertiary education in New Zealand in 2005 - some key indicators........................................................................................................184 Annex 5: Statistical tables .............................................................................................212 Annex 6: Education Act 1989........................................................................................245 3 List of figures and tables Tables: Table 1.1: Projected Age Distribution of Ethnic Populations 2001(base)–2021 ................25 Table 1.2: Ethnic Share of New Zealand Population 2001(base)–2021 .............................26 Table 3.1: Change in total qualification completions 1998-2003 .......................................42 Table 5.1: Percentage of total PBRF funding allocated to selected TEOs 2005.................60 Table 6.1: Domestic students enrolled by level of study ....................................................69 Table 9.1: Attrition and completion rates for students starting certificate and diploma and bachelors-level study: 1998-2003 ....................................................................125 Figures: Figure 2.1: Relationships between key actors in tertiary education system .........................32 Figure 2.2: The design of the New Zealand tertiary education system ................................35 Figure 2.3: The levels of the New Zealand education system..............................................36 Figure 3.1: Unemployment rate of the population aged 15 years and over by highest qualification 1991-2004 .....................................................................................40 Figure 3.2: Median weekly income for population aged 15 years and over from all sources by highest qualification 1997-2004....................................................................40 Figure 3.3: Income mix in 2000 of former students of universities and ITPs who last studied in 1999, 1998 and 1997......................................................................................41 Figure 4.1: Population growth 2000 - 2004: ITP regions.....................................................51 Figure 4.2: Distribution of enrolments by field of study: regional ITPs ..............................52 Figure 5.1: PBRF 2003 quality evaluation results – number of FTE staff in each ‘quality category’ and average ‘quality score’ for each ‘subject panel’..........................60 Figure 5.2: Sources of university research funding..............................................................62 Figure 5.3: Trends in university research income by category of income 2000–2003.........62 Figure 5.4: University research income in real terms: the government and non-government proportions 2000–2003 ......................................................................................63 Figure 5.5: PhD enrolments at New Zealand universities 1998-2004..................................66 Figure 5.6: PhD completions at New Zealand universities 1998-2004 ................................67 Figure 6.1: Ratio of average domestic student fee at TEIs to average weekly income 1997- 2003....................................................................................................................76 Figure 7a.1: The relationship between income and qualifications by age, 2005....................81 Figure 7a.2: Average domestic tuition fees per EFTS in TEIs and in universities 1997-2004 ............................................................................................................................86 Figure 7a.3: Average domestic tuition fees per EFTS in TEIs and in universities expressed as a ratio of the average weekly income 1997-2004 ..............................................86 Figure 7a.4: Student allowances recipients by gender 1999-2004 .........................................89 Figure 7a.5: Student support recipients by type of assistance received 2000-2004 ...............90 Figure 7a.6: Government spending on tertiary education 1999/2000-2004/05......................93 Figure 7a.7 Government tertiary education expenditure as a percentage of GDP 1999/2000- 2004/05...............................................................................................................93 Figure 7a.8: Percentage of government tertiary education expenditure by component 1999/2000-2004/05 ............................................................................................94 Figure 7a.9: Government