Permanent solutions needed after welcome funding correction.

Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union welcomes today’s announcement of additional funding for tertiary education as a victory for the union members who campaigned hard for the government to step in.

Minister of Education Jan Tinetti has announced a $128 million package for the tertiary sector, including Te Pūkenga and wānanga, however it remains unclear if this will be enough to stop the cuts currently proposed across the sector. Tinetti also signalled a review of tertiary funding that will take place after the election if the government is re-elected.

Tumu Whakarae | National President Dr Julie Douglas says the government’s decision has come “better late than never. We‘ve been telling successive governments for over a decade that our members are at breaking point and something had to give. We are cautiously optimistic that this will be enough to stop the cuts but given it is not targeted at the institutions that are struggling the most, we are concerned the money may be spread too thin.”

“The staff of our sector have watched colleagues walk away to other jobs and/or countries, they have seen the quality of education diminished, they have survived previous rounds of staff cuts and they have struggled under intense workloads all due to a lack of funding where it’s needed most.”

“It’s a testament to their resilience, persistence and campaigning strength that they have won this victory, but the mahi doesn’t end here. We now need to ensure that this money will be used by the Vice Chancellors to stop the cuts. And we need to come together as a sector to work on a long-term fix.”

“The funding model is still not working, workloads are still unmanageable and university salary growth is still lagging a long way behind inflation, overseas institutions, and some industries that our universities draw staff from.”

“While we congratulate the government for making a good call today, a lot of significant challenges remain.”