Mood of the boardroom.
Sept. 30, 2025
Hau Taki Haere | Tertiary Update Vol 29, No 18
While not wanting to get into the habit of agreeing with “the mood of the boardroom,” Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union does find their recent ministerial rankings consistent with our own experience.
The New Zealand Herald’s ‘Mood of the Boardroom’ survey of 150 Aotearoa business leaders ranked Minister of Vocational Education Penny Simmonds’ performance 27th out of 28 Ministers, while Minister of Universities Shane Reti didn’t rate much higher at 25th.
Te Pou Ahurei | National Secretary Sandra Grey says “unfortunately this survey has presented a fair and accurate reflection of the government’s performance in the tertiary education sector.”
“In the case of Penny Simmonds, students and staff are paying the price for a minister who is more interested in dismantling Te Pūkenga than she is in building strong and sustainable vocational education provision.”
“In the university space, there is no real plan or vision to make any significant improvements and/or secure the funding necessary to make a positive difference.”
“Overall these rankings confirm what we see every day on campuses: Access and quality is being undermined and the whole system continues to be jeopardised by a toxic cocktail of inaction and neglect.”
Also in this update:
Elections update: New Vice Presidents elected, nominations open for all other positions
Other stories:
Tokoroa and Taupō u-turn a win for union power – TEU
Government attacks on Māori flow on to Wānanga – TEU
About $190m needed to restart polytechnics - consultants reports – RNZ
"Profound lack of leadership": Advocacy groups slam Government's decision on Palestinian statehood (feat. TEU’s Yasmine Serhan) – NZ Herald