Priorities for tertiary education

The Tertiary Education Strategy

The Government’s Tertiary Education Strategy states that tertiary providers must:

• enable more Māori and Pacific students to achieve qualifications at Levels 4 and above 
• enable more young people to achieve qualifications at Levels 4 and above 
• improve their educational, financial and governance performance.

Therefore, we have provided information about how well tertiary providers currently deliver achievement for specific groups of students.

Māori Students

Māori make up around 13.9% of New Zealand’s working age population and 19.9% of all tertiary students.

Enrolments in 2009 show that Māori students as a proportion of all students were:

• 57% at Wānanga
• 26% at Private Training Establishments
• 20% at Polytechnics
• 9% at Universities
• 46% at Other Tertiary Education Providers
• 18% in Industry Training.

Pacific Students

Pacific people make up around 6.8% of New Zealand’s working age population and 7.4% of all tertiary students. However, the proportion of Pacific people in the working age population is expected to double by 2026.

Enrolments in 2009 show that Pacific students as a proportion of all students were:

• 17% at Private Training Establishments
• 9% at Wānanga 
• 8% at Polytechnics 
• 6% at Universities
• 6% at Other Tertiary Education Providers
• 7% in Industry Training.