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New Zealand universities push for funding reforms, quality assurance.

Quality Assurance

Business Honor
11 September, 2024

New Zealand universities seek funding reforms and improved quality assurance to address financial and operational challenges.

It received significant feedback from the advisory group concerning quality assurance and financial problems in the sector regarding a review on the future of universities in New Zealand. Universities have especially complained that they sometimes make losses on some courses that incur low enrollments in most institutions, calling for a reformed funding system which allows more collaboration and resource sharing.

In preparation for providing advisory leadership to the government about increasing productivity and economic growth in the universities and the science system, the University Advisory Group has been led by Sir Peter Gluckman. A big part of the review will focus on whether the balance between financial sustainability and a broader range of courses can be achieved by universities. Universities New Zealand argued that forced specialization would reduce the diversity of programs and limit students' access to a variety of subjects at local institutions.

One of the main issues is the financial burden imposed by low-enrollment programs such as geophysics, oceanography, and languages, which are becoming a financial burden for universities to teach. Universities New Zealand has proposed that a new funding system could allow universities to pool resources to offer niche courses, thus spreading the losses. This would ensure that these programs, although not financially viable, are available for students and meet national needs.

Business New Zealand even commented that universities cannot monitor their own quality assurance processes. This was attributed to a lack of external scrutiny in the endeavor. The group proposed a new agency for implementing quality assurance processes and course approval. Improved governance and accountability in universities should be promoted.

The Tertiary Education Union sounded similar concerns about underfunding and encouraged the advisory group to treat the eight universities as a single collaborative system rather than as competing entities. The union insisted that public tertiary education must be treated as a public good, pushing for better funding to sustain quality assurance across the sector.