Calder Cam: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCalder Cam: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 05 March 2014. Volume:696;Page:16328. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]6.Dr CAM CALDER (National) to theMinister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment: What announcements has the Government made on the Tertiary Education Strategy for New Zealand?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment): Earlier today I launched in Auckland the Tertiary Education Strategy 2014-19 which sets out the Government’s expectations and direction of the tertiary education sector for the next 5 years. The future tertiary system needs to be more outward facing and engaged in order to respond to the international expansion of tertiary education the needs of a growing economy and new technologies. That means having strong links to industry community schools and the global economy. The Tertiary Education Strategy is designed to help guide tertiary education investment and the actions needed from the Government tertiary education organisations business and the wider community to significantly improve further our tertiary education outcomes.Dr Cam Calder: What are the priorities for tertiary education identified in the Tertiary Education Strategy?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The strategy identifies six key priorities: delivering skills for industry getting at-risk young people into a career boosting achievement for Māori and Pasifika growing education linkages strengthening research-based institutions and improving adult literacy and numeracy. Good progress has already been made in many of these areas. Since 2008 there has been a rise in the number of full-time students we are seeing more graduates than ever before and at higher levels and we had 10000 new apprentices sign up between March and December of last year. The number of Māori students enrolled in qualifications at Bachelor’s level or higher has increased from 17500 in 2007 to nearly 29000 in 2012. The number of Pasifika students enrolled in qualifications at Bachelor’s level or higher has risen from 8500 in 2007 to nearly12000 in 2012. Our tertiary sector must continue to adapt and change in order to provide the skills and qualifications that New Zealanders need in order to contribute in the labour market in innovative and competitive ways.Dr Cam Calder: How is the Government strengthening research-based institutions?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: Alongside the Tertiary Education Strategy I launched today I also announced changes to simplify and strengthen the structure of the Performance-based Research Fund. The Performance-based Research Fund rewards and encourages excellent tertiary education research by assessing quality allocating funding based on results and publishing information on performance. The changes I have announced today are designed to simplify the research assessment process to save time and reduce costs for organisations and research staff; reward tertiary education organisations to attract external research income from international sources or New Zealand industry or not-for-profit organisations or iwi; strengthen public reporting on research performance; and reward tertiary education organisations that recruit develop and retain new researchers. We have a system with a number of strengths when compared with other funding systems around the world. These changes will build on those strengths reduce complexity and lower compliance costs.Te Ururoa Flavell: Tēnā koe Mr Speaker. Kia ora tātou. How can the Minister stand by his Tertiary Education Strategy which provides for Māori achievement and success when his Tertiary Education Commission is shutting down the only Māori national centre of research excellenceNgā Pae o te Māramatanga?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The member raises a very fair point. The centres of research excellence review is going on at the moment and the research society of New Zealand is actually doing the work to evaluate those centres of research excellence and determine which should be funded from the end of 2015 onwards. My understanding is that the member notes that that particular centre of research excellence is not at this stage proposed for funding. It will be up to the institutions as to how they run them. It is important that this is an independent process with scientists measuring the progress of each of these centres of research excellence and that they are not being assessed by politicians sitting in this Chamber.