Donnelly Brian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Donnelly Brian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:613;Page:9801] 
12.  
Hon BRIAN DONNELLY (NZ First) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education) 
: What system or systems are utilised by the Tertiary Education Commission to verify numbers of students for funding purposes? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)) 
: 
 Providers receiving student component funding are required to submit funding claims in advance for their intended enrolments. Those must follow clear and published criteria. All claims are verified through validation routines both by the provider and the Tertiary Education Commission to ensure that funding claims are consistent with Government guidelines. The commission also undertakes compliance visits to private providers to ensure that student information management systems meet requirements. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Why is it that Carich is still waiting—having waited for several critical weeks—for the Tertiary Education Commission to provide it with a system to enable verification of student numbers in order to claim funding that would have kept it afloat? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I do not think that it is wise for us in this scene to get into who said what etc. The core of the data return is that Carich provided a forecast for the number of students the company thought it would teach and was funded on that. Subsequently it sought to change that and then sought to change it again. No other provider in the country is in the situation of trying to provide that data return three times. Until the company can do so it is very difficult for the commission to act. 
Darren Hughes 
: What changes has the Government made to the way tertiary education providers are funded; and when will those changes take effect? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: A key aspect of the tertiary education reforms is the introduction of an integrated funding framework that allows more strategic funding from the Tertiary Education Commission. The first funding profiles will be in place by the beginning of next year and the commission will then be able to use them actively to allocate funding. The private training establishment funding area has already been capped. From 2003 all additional private training establishment places require applications to a strategic priorities fund. The Carich issue centres on places for the 2002 academic year. 
Hon Bill English 
: How can this House have any confidence in the capacity of the Tertiary Education Commission to monitor student numbers when it now employs over 300 people itself and is running 30 percent over budget? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: It may help if I mention to the member that nearly all the members of the commission come from the previous Skill New Zealand organisation which involves a regional network of people who are in the field. Included in the number he has just quoted are people who are on temporary contracts while the organisation is set up. 
Hon Bill English 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked the Minister about the budget as well. It is well known that the Tertiary Education Commission is 30 percent over budget so why does he not answer that question? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I heard the second part of the question. The Minister may like to comment. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: My understanding from the Tertiary Education Commission is that it will come in on budget during the year. 
Bernie Ogilvy 
: Does the Tertiary Education Commission collect data on the numbers of students who fail courses particularly in their first year because that poses a significant potential cost to the Government in terms of equivalent full-time student funding; if not why not? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: In the area of private training for example—which I know is an interest of the member—he will know that most of the providers are funded on completion rates. Yes the Tertiary Education Commission does collect what amounts to failures. In the equivalent full-time students area it does require a data return but the member will know that one of the weaknesses of the system in the equivalent full-time students area is that students who are enrolled through until the end of March become recorded as students for funding purposes. My own view is that that is something that will need to change and I am waiting for a report this month on some changes that will be put in place in that area. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Can the Minister confirm that the required roll audit which was essential was dependent upon the Tertiary Education Commission providing a definition of what 2.4 weeks actually meant and that such a definition has not yet been provided? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I repeat that in this kind of debate there are always people who make one claim over the other. I say clearly to the member that from the Tertiary Education Commission’s point of view it has provided all data and assistance that it possibly could to Carich. Unfortunately even on the third try the organisation could not provide simple data on how many students it had enrolled for funding purposes for example and that is the core of the problem. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The question I asked had nothing to do with the answer the Minister gave. The answer the Minister gave was about what had occurred up to the point of the roll audit. My question asked whether it was the case that the roll audit could not take place until the Tertiary Education Commission provided the definition. The Tertiary Education Commission has not provided the definition and I am asking the Minister why that is the case. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: To clarify matters what I was saying in effect is that the commission has advised me that it has provided all definitional advice of the kind that the member is asking for. It has provided clear instructions as to what it wanted and it has not been able to get the data.