Pillay Lynne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Pillay Lynne: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19550] 
1.  
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: What steps is he taking to shift tertiary education funding from areas of low-quality provision to areas of higher strategic relevance? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 There are quite a few but particularly today a new statement of tertiary education priorities has been published. That focuses the education system on quality rather than quantity on relevance to national goals and on collaboration rather than competition. The statement makes it clear that low-quality courses and providers have no place in the publicly funded system. It clearly demonstrates our commitment to scrap the previous approach introduced by Nick Smith and supported by Bill English of funding anyone who comes through the door or in their case who turns on the radio. 
Lynne Pillay 
: What are the key differences between the new statement of tertiary education priorities and the last one? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: It sets out a definition of tertiary education provision that is strategically relevant and specifies the particular roles that particular types of tertiary education providers play in the system. I expect that as a result of this in the value-for-money reviews already under way there will be significant changes from 2006 onwards. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister confirm to the House that Labour has spent $210 million setting up the Tertiary Education Commission; and that that body in the last 2 years has overseen massive blowouts in low-value tertiary education courses and right now is investigating rumours that there were 30000 enrolments in diving courses in 2004? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: What would the Minister suggest I say to the lady who sent me an advertisement from the  
Gulf News 
 of 24 March for enrolment in the Te Tohu Whakangungu Kaihoe waka course a 36-week course in Polynesian navigation with the question: “I thought this type of course was going to be discontinued. The country is desperate for trade training to produce skilled workers.”—that help is on the way? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: That waka is going under. 
Bernie Ogilvy 
: Is the Minister willing to increase the target number for Modern Apprenticeships to 10000 given a Department of Labour survey that shows a severe skills shortage in 15 trades all in Modern Apprenticeships areas; if not why not? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: We are reviewing the Modern Apprenticeships targets in looking forward. It looks as if we will get to the current target of 8500 much earlier than was predicted. The one issue I have around increasing targets is the ability to get tradespeople to do the training. That is one of the problems at the moment. Too many such tradespeople are going out of the polytechs and private training establishments and back on to the tools because the money is so good. 
Tariana Turia 
: Is not the movement to shift tertiary education funding to areas of so-called highest strategic relevance just another way of closing down private training establishments and reducing wananga rolls; if not how will private training establishments and wananga benefit from that move? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: No. In fact the changes in the private training establishment area were promoted by the member when she was part of the social development committee and part of the Government. But there will be some changes. I have no doubt that wananga rolls will go down because some of the things that are being taught in wananga are not strategically relevant. 
Hon Bill English 
: I seek leave to table a document detailing the expenditure of $210.284 million on establishing the Tertiary Education Commission. 
Leave granted.