English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:622;Page:17427] 
5.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education) 
: Does he stand by his August statement regarding enrolments at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology that “the commission will now be evaluating those enrolments and I hope we arrive at a situation where the polytechnic does pay more money back.”; if so what progress has been made with that evaluation over the last 4 months? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)) 
: 
 Yes I do stand by my statement. The Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology gave a clear public commitment in August that it would work with the Tertiary Education Commission to undertake a robust evaluation of the learner experience with the COOL IT programme. But I am not happy with the lack of progress and nor is the Tertiary Education Commission which is making that clear to the institute. I expect action in the immediate future. 
Hon Bill English 
: Why has the Minister repeatedly given Parliament the impression that the Government is evaluating up to 13000 potentially bogus enrolments whereas the Tertiary Education Commission wrote to the Christchurch polytech in August stating: “The TEC understands there is no legal basis for a request to undertake such an evaluation.” and “The TEC does not see this evaluation as a device for challenging past CPIT funding claims.”; and therefore why are officials saying there is no basis for having an evaluation and that they will not be asking for the money back when the Minister is saying in Parliament that he is? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As I have repeatedly said there is an ethical question here. Public money must be accounted for properly. That means there needs to be an assurance that the enrolments at the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology that were publicly funded were funded properly and accounted for properly. To the extent that they were not there is an obligation for that money to come back and I am going to ensure that that is the course of action that takes place—immediately. 
Helen Duncan 
: What measures have been taken to ensure the problems about accountability for public money that arose in relation to the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology’s online computing programme do not occur again? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Funding for classification 5.1 has been capped. The rates have been cut. The Tertiary Education Commission has revised the funding guide—it was released on the website last week—to strengthen a number of requirements and make it clear that no inducements may be offered for publicly funded courses regardless of the source of funding for those inducements. Providers now need to retain evidence of learner engagement and the rules regarding early withdrawal from courses have been clarified. The Tertiary Education Commission has amended the equivalent full-time student calculation rate for the classification 5.1 courses comprised of self-directed learning to ensure that clarity and maintaining consistency with other courses are transparent for all to see. 
Hon Bill English 
: Why is it that when that $15 million scam has been publicly documented when there has been 18 months of bad publicity and when he has a $50 million bureaucracy in place to police the tertiary sector he has been able to do precisely nothing; and when will he stop giving the impression of a chihuahua savaging a wet lettuce leaf? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Apart from the last comment the rest of the question is in order. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I am happy the member thinks he is a wet lettuce leaf. That is what I think of him as too so he is fairly accurate there. It is important that the member understands these are autonomous organisations that have to be given the opportunity to show they are responsible for public money. This organisation has failed. The waiting is over. When the member gets back to his office he will find a press release that tells him exactly what is to happen. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister assure the House then that he will be recovering most of the $15 million that the Government paid to Christchurch Polytechnic for a course that enrolled 18000 people and that only 600 are known to have completed? Can he assure the House he will be getting money back? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As I have told the member this is an ethical matter. Public money is involved and I will ensure that it is evaluated and accounted for.