Lead item …
NZ should emulate Australian move on university graduate numbers
The NZVCC was quick to respond to a recent announcement that all Australian universities will be funded on the basis of student demand from 2012, issuing a media release calling for an increase in New Zealand university graduate numbers. When she made the announcement, the Australian Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard also said: “Our ambition is that by 2025, 40% of all 25 to 34-years-olds will have a qualification at bachelor level or above – not just to have enrolled in higher education, but to have completed an undergraduate degree – today that figure stands at 32%.”
In the NZVCC media release, Deputy Chair Derek McCormack said the Australian government’s intention to increase university graduate numbers underscored the need for a similar goal for New Zealand. While Australia had 32% of its 25 to 34-year-olds with a bachelor’s or higher degree, the equivalent proportion for this country was less than 30%.
“New Zealand needs to consider a similar, long-term public investment in university education if it is to remain remotely competitive on an international basis. This is reinforced by the fact that other jurisdictions have set targets higher than that proposed by the Australians – the United Kingdom and Sweden both want 50 per cent of their 24 to 35 year-year-olds to hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in the years ahead.”
Mr McCormack said it was now abundantly clear just how much weight Australia was placing on higher education investment with the decision to fund student demand likely to result in an additional 550,000 Australian university graduates. Further, two other announcements by Minister Gillard signalled increased public spending on vocational education and the pursuit of policies aimed at increasing higher education participation by lower economic status groups.
“In New Zealand, the number of Māori moving from school to degree level study is increasing slowly and that progression needs to accelerate, particularly for males. The rate of Māori participation in study at this level is still less than half that for students overall. Further, Māori and Pasifika students are less likely to complete their qualifications. New Zealand universities want to work with government on initiatives to further improve these participation and retention rates and taking a long-term investment approach will achieve this.”
The access equity aspect of the Gillard announcements involved the Australian government supporting a target for 20% of the university student body to come from low socio-economic backgrounds, by 2020. The current level of participation for Australian university students from such backgrounds is 16%.
The Australian announcements were based on “a student-centred approach, with clear and strong public interest oversight as the way forward for university funding in the 21st century”. In the NZVCC media release, Mr McCormack supported that approach, referring to the need for New Zealand to address skills shortages in the professional workforce through an increase in university graduates in the relevant disciplines.
“The Australians clearly see the connection between increased public investment in higher education and enhanced economic and social outcomes for their country. New Zealand should follow their lead to ensure this country has sufficient numbers of skilled professionals and researchers to remain globally competitive in the years ahead. Policies to increase university student numbers are more productive long term than having young people unemployed, a position the Government appears to recognise through its youth guarantee policy.”
Other items …
Universities Australia Conference
Universities Australia hosted a highly successful Inaugural Higher Education Conference in Canberra from March 4 to 6. Attended by over 350 delegates, the conference featured a televised lunch-time address to the National Press Club by Professor Richard Larkins, Vice-Chancellor of Monash University and outgoing Universities Australia Chair. It also featured the inaugural Universities Australia National Media Awards for Higher Education.
The conference was opened by Hon Julia Gillard, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations who chose the event to make the first of three sets of announcements about the government’s response to the Review of Australian Higher Education (the Bradley Review) – see report above. That set the scene for a response from Emeritus Professor Denise Bradley (former Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Australia) and Professor Glyn Davis (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne) and a speech later in the conference from Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science & Research.
The focus of the other sessions at the conference was on themes which also resonate in the New Zealand universities – quality teaching, international education developments and trends, students and social inclusion, future academic workforce issues, business-university intersections and the contributions universities can make to transforming their regions.
Presentations and papers from the conference will be available in the near future on the Universities Australia website at: www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au
ACU Secretary General visits New Zealand universities
Professor John Tarrant, Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, visited this country last week, taking the opportunity to call on six universities as well as the NZVCC secretariat in Wellington. All New Zealand universities are members of the ACU, an organisation which represents
around 500 member universities drawn from the 53 Commonwealth states. Established in 1913, the ACU is the oldest inter-university network in the world. A former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, Professor Tarrant took over as ACU Secretary General in 2007 and wants the organisation to provide useful services to its members which fit within existing national and international arrangements.
Professor Tarrant’s research background is in national and international food policy and food security. His visiting positions include a period in this country at the University of Canterbury in 1973. At an NZVCC reception held last week to mark his visit, Professor Tarrant pointed to the success story from the export of the British higher education model. That meant that in principle various Commonwealth governments established universities on a reasonably uniform basis, a sound footing for inter-university international collaboration, especially in areas such as scholarships.
UK Vice-Chancellors want student fees doubled
University Vice-Chancellors in the United Kingdom want to more than double student fees to £6500 a year to protect teaching standards, according to a report in today’s issue of The Independent. The story said that a government review later this year is likely to lead to a fees rise, against a background of warnings that university education was becoming unaffordable for poorer students. The current UK university tuition fee is £3145 a year. Universities UK, the peak body which represents universities in that country, has released a report which says that £6500 is the average fee necessary to protect undergraduate teaching standards.
Education Review website access
Education Review, the national weekly publication dedicated to education sector issues coverage, is providing free access to its website until the end of April. Updated every Thursday afternoon, the website provides the same content as the print edition, but several days earlier than most readers receive it in the mail. See: www.educationreview.co.nz
