The Marlborough Express reports that the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) is responding to government funding cuts by focusing on its niche courses.

Instead of providing a range of course to meet the varied demands of all students, the polytechnic will focus on its aviation, horticultural and aquacultural courses, and attracting secondary school leavers from outside the region.

Chief executive Tony Gray told the Express that communities seemed to expect polytechnics would service all types of courses at any cost, but reduced funding meant it was no longer viable.

“We can’t do everything, but we’re going to do a lot [of courses],” he said.

NMIT’s funding was cut by $3 million last year and will continue to fall for the next three years after the National Government made changes to tertiary education funding. More funding cuts are possible with the introduction of student performance funding.

Mr Gray said the polytechnic would be measured on value for money and the Government had made plain that it would not bail out struggling polytechnics. He said the polytechnic was changing the culture of staff and how it went about its work to become more efficient in the face of reduced funding from the Government.

Thanks to Sandy Austin @ Flickr for the photo