Summary

The report is framed around the seven priority areas of the strategy outlined below. Each section discusses key indicators relating to the priority and includes a summary of key points.

The 2010-15 Tertiary Education Strategy

The Tertiary Education Strategy describes the Government's strategic direction for tertiary education over the next five to 10 years. It outlines the Government's priorities. The strategy guides the Tertiary Education Commission's investment decisions in order to maximise tertiary education's contribution to New Zealand within the constraints of the available funding.

The 2010-15 strategy sets out the Government's vision for a "world-leading education system that equips all New Zealanders with the knowledge, skills and values to be successful citizens in the 21st century." To achieve this vision, the Government expects the tertiary education system to:

• provide New Zealanders of all backgrounds with opportunities to gain world-class skills and knowledge
• raise the skills and knowledge of the current and future workforce to meet labour market demand and social needs
• produce high-quality research to build New Zealand's knowledge base, respond to the needs of the economy and address environmental and social changes
• enable Māori to enjoy education success as Māori.

The strategy sets out the priorities for the tertiary education system over the next three to five years, of:

• increasing the number of young people moving successfully from school into tertiary education
• increasing the number of young people (aged under 25) achieving qualifications at level four and above, particularly degrees
• increasing the number of Māori students enjoying success at higher levels
• increasing the number of Pasifika students achieving at higher levels
• improving literacy, language and numeracy skills outcomes from levels one to three study
• strengthening research outcomes
• improving educational and financial performance of providers.

The strategy acknowledges that these priorities will need to be achieved within a tight fiscal environment, where the Government is unable to provide significant funding increases. Achievement of the priorities will require moving funding away from lower-quality qualifications, with poorer outcomes, to fund growth in high-quality qualifications that benefit New Zealanders and contribute to the nation's economic growth.

The Tertiary Education Strategy takes account of Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success, Māori Education Strategy 2008-2012. Ka Hikitia has a focus on enabling Māori students to enjoy education success as Māori through realising Māori potential, cultural advantage and inherent capability. Ka Hikitia is currently being refreshed. The refreshed strategy will contain explicit goals for tertiary education.

The Tertiary Education Strategy also took account of the Pasifika Education Plan 2009-2012. The Plan focused on enabling Pasifika people, and in particular young Pasifika students, to participate and attain higher levels of tertiary education. This focus has been continued in the 2013-2017 Pasifika Education Plan.

Monitoring the Strategy

The purpose of monitoring the strategy is to provide ongoing and timely information to the Government and government agencies on the progress of the tertiary education system against the strategy. Monitoring helps to make sense of the extent to which the intended changes are happening and to what degree. 

The strategy identifies indicators for assessing progress and success. These are balanced with other information to provide a fuller picture of change across the system. A narrow focus on indicators could easily miss the 'real' story. The system may be 'scoring' well on a whole range of indicators but not making the substantive shifts indicated by the strategy – or the other way around. The challenge of monitoring, therefore, is to highlight the overall messages, not just report on indicators.

Monitoring can only provide a partial and selective view of change across a system as complex and dynamic as tertiary education. Therefore, the results need to be considered alongside other information, such as research results and expert advice.

A New Tertiary Education Strategy

The Government will be undertaking consultation during 2013 leading to the development of an updated tertiary education strategy.

The information in this report is provided as background to that consultation.