Tairāwhiti Polytechnic chief executive Judy Campbell says her institution will not survive financially if a merger with Eastern Institute of Technology does not go ahead. The Gisborne Herald reports that she told the Tairāwhiti Development Trust the present financial position for Tairāwhiti was unsustainable.

Ms Campbell says a link with EIT would benefit students and increase the courses open to them. The global financial crisis and the economic condition of the country had affected the Government’s attitude towards polytechnics and in 2009 it signalled that it will reduce funding over the next two years.

Tairāwhiti is projecting it soon will be losing $50,000 a week, or $3 million per annum. Ms Campbell said that the institution had gone on an extensive search to find a partner to enable it to continue operating, and that it had chosen EIT because of its size and cash reserves. “It is an extremely robust organisation,” she said.

It is her hope that a business case for a merger will be completed by October. Then the institutions will consult staff and the public. Finally the minister of tertiary education must run a formal consultation process before giving overall approval. The target date for the merger is 1 January 2012.

“We believe that this marriage might well benefit everybody,” Ms Campbell said.