Summary

The Tertiary Education Strategy 2002-2007 (TES) is the cornerstone of the government's tertiary education reforms. It sets out the government's goals for the system and it is designed to ensure that all of those working in tertiary education in New Zealand are moving in alignment with those goals. A key element of the TES is monitoring the progress made by tertiary education organisations (TEOs) and government agencies towards those goals. The government has asked the Ministry of Education to monitor progress towards the achievement of the TES goals.

The Ministry of Education has now published the baseline monitoring report on the strategy. The baseline report sets out the state of the tertiary education system before the implementation of the TES, and the associated reforms. It explains how progress against the TES will be monitored over the next few years and it provides us with a series of measures against which we record progress over the life of the TES.

The report provides a source of information that is valuable in:

• providing better contextual information for TEOs, to help shape their own goals and objectives in discussions with their stakeholders;
• providing better contextual information for the stakeholders who are involved in such discussions, so that they can better understand the connections between tertiary education and their own social and economic goals;
• ensuring as a result that, over time, tertiary education organisations' profiles fit better with the direction of the TES, demonstrate improvements over the baseline and organisations are better placed to contribute to the social and economic development of the country; and
• providing an evidence-base to help government agencies develop policies to further achieve the outcomes defined in the TES.

In this way, the baseline monitoring report will provide context for and help shape the government agencies' and TEOs' planning, as well as consultation on the critical next steps in implementing the TES.

The following are some of the key points raised in the baseline monitoring report about the state of the sector in 2002.

• In general, both public and private tertiary providers had achieved improved financial stability, providing a sound base for further strengthening capability and quality within the system.
• The period to 2002 was characterised by growing participation in tertiary education, particularly by people in older age groups, women and Māori. Much of this growth was in qualifications below degree-level.
• There continued to be clear differences in participation between ethnic groups. There was low participation and completion by Pasifika peoples, with the tertiary education targets in the Pasifika Education Plan not being achieved in 2002. While Māori participation rates exceeded those of non-Māori, 77 percent of Māori were studying for qualifications below degree-level at 31 July 2002.
• The significant skill challenge faced by New Zealand as the world shifts to a knowledge-based economy and society is confirmed by data in the baseline report. The foundation competencies of much of the adult population are low than desirable. However, this is a similar situation to that in other OECD countries. There has, however, been significantly increased participation in industry training and foundation education.
• In 2002, the tertiary education sector was the largest producer of research publications in New Zealand. Much of this research contribution is focused on new knowledge creation and discovery. Research publications from the New Zealand tertiary education sector have been cited at a similar rate to the international average.

Report Overview

• Introduction: (Including Forewords and background to monitoring of the TES)
• The Baseline Picture: The tertiary education system at the start of the strategy
• Overview: Implementation of the reforms and cross strategy indicators
• The Six Strategies
• Raise foundation skills so that people can participate in our knowledge society
• Develop the skills New Zealanders need for our knowledge society
• Strengthen research, knowledge creation and uptake for our knowledge society
• Te rautaki mātauranga Māori - contribute to the achievement of Māori development aspirations
• Education for Pacific peoples' development and success
• Strengthen system capability and quality
• Technical and data definitions

Download Individual Chapters