Adult and Community Education

Budget 2009: funding for 2010 and beyond 

Funding for Adult and Community Education (ACE) provision delivered through schools has been significantly reduced for 2010 as part of Budget 2009.

If your school is interested in seeking ACE funding for 2010, information is now available.

If your school is not intending to seek funding for 2010, advice is available for managing this.

Update on schools ACE funding - September 2009

Ending programmes in 2009

As of 31 December 2009, all existing funding arrangements for school-based ACE provision will end. Approximately 20 percent of the current level of funding will be reinvested. Following consultation with PPTA, NZSTA and MoE the following information has been prepared for boards and principals who are working through the process.

Options for Boards

• Boards should plan to meet their Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) Plan commitments to deliver ACE for the remainder of this year.
• Where a board has identified that it may be unable to do this, the board (if it has not already done so) should contact the TEC on 0800 601 301 or at servicecentre@tec.govt.nz to discuss their options.
• Those boards which have prepared an expression of interest to the TEC for 2010 ACE funding will know if they have been successful by the end of September 2009.
• Boards which have already decided to withdraw from ACE also need to make contact with TEC if they haven’t already done so.

Process 

Any costs associated with the phasing down or ending of ACE programmes may be covered from the funding you receive for ACE during 2009 or from ACE funding that has previously been carried forward into the 2009 year. That includes staff costs.

If boards are in a position where the costs (including staff costs) associated with withdrawing from ACE provision are greater than the ACE funding available to them, then they should contact the TEC immediately on 0800 601 301 or at servicecentre@tec.govt.nz (using the attached template) to identify reasonable and unavoidable costs. The TEC will liaise with those boards and work through potential funding options on a case-by-case basis.  

Staff employed by boards to deliver and co-ordinate ACE programmes will have entitlements under their employment agreements. It is strongly recommended that boards seek advice from their local New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) Industrial Advisers This service is available to all schools. Employees should contact their union for advice.

The TEC has provided two templates to assist boards in determining what their potential liabilities may be in relation to ACE programmes.

• Assessing the costs of withdrawing from Adult and Community Education (ACE) provision (Word, 50Kb)
• Assessing the costs of staff employed in ACE programmes in schools (Word, 62 Kb)

Adult and Community Education 2009 funding

The purpose of the Adult and Community Education (ACE) fund is to provide community-based educational opportunities for adults that are aligned with the five national ACE priorities, and identified community learning needs:

1. Targeting learners whose initial learning was not successful
2. Raising foundation skills
3. Encouraging lifelong learning
4. Strengthening communities by meeting identified community learning needs
5. Strengthening social cohesion.

All you need to know about ACE priorities (PDF, 62 Kb)

The Tertiary Education Commission has developed five university-specific ACE priorities.

The ACE objectives are to:

• provide informal, non-assessed learning opportunities that are characterised by programme diversity, flexibility and responsiveness to identified community learning needs and individual learners
• contribute to the tertiary education system in line with the directions articulated in the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES).

Alignment to the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES)

The TES recognises that that the ACE priorities represent the distinctive contribution of the ACE sector, and where ACE is not an organisation’s core role ACE should be delivered in support of their full distinctive contribution.

The role of ACE provision is also reflected within the expected contribution of tertiary education, areas for focus and priority outcomes of the TES.

To avoid duplication of provision, all tertiary education organisations (TEOs) delivering ACE should organise their ACE activities in liaison with other ACE organisations within their local TEC ACE network.

ACE funding can only be claimed for valid ACE enrolments.

Subject to the rules and conditions in the Funding Information there is no restriction on any of the following:

• The length of a course
• The type of course content
• The premises for delivery, subject to local fire, health, safety and access requirements
• The minimum group size.

Note: some initiatives require a greater teacher to learner ratio than others.

Reporting and record-keeping

Monitoring

The TEC monitors ACE delivery through relevant key performance indicators in organisations' Investment Plans, and may also monitor:

• the number of learner enrolments
• learner attendance
• evidence of learner eligibility
• learning outcomes achieved by learners
• financial information about expenditure of ACE funding and any other ACE income.

Payments

Schools and community providers are paid in equal quarterly instalments on the first banking day following the 15th of the following months:

• January
• April
• July
• October.

All other providers are paid in equal monthly instalments on the first banking day of each month.

The TEI ACE funding rate for 2009 is $4,444.44 (excl GST).

Further information on ACE

• ACE EFTS calculations
• ACE delivery
• ACE enrolments
• ACE quality assurance