Hon. Chris Hipkins, Minister of Education

Yesterday’s Budget delivered a massive funding injection for tertiary education, with a substantial focus on vocational education.

It’s part of the Government’s commitment to business, jobs and training as we get New Zealand working again.

Budget 2020 creates the capacity for a strong and coordinated response to the challenges New Zealand faces.

We know that, as happened in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, when the economy suffers tertiary education sees new interest as jobs are lost and people seek new opportunities.

We are, however, in a better position than we were in 2008 to address the needs of learners and businesses.

Over the last nine months the Government and the vocational education sector have been collaborating to put in place a new system (RoVE) that is more joined up, easier to navigate for learners and includes greater oversight and coordinating roles for industry and regional economies.

The system became a reality when RoVE passed into law on 1 April and since then, while responding to COVID19 has taken priority, planning has continued behind the scenes.

With Budget 2020 announced, the work that drives RoVE will be supercharged and its scope widened for the next two years as Government, businesses, the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (Te Pūkenga) and workers pull together to get New Zealand back to full strength.

There is a lot to do in a short space of time, but I’m confident the conversations that have already happened, the steps that have been taken to put RoVE into action, and the Te Pūkenga structure that is now set up, will stand us in good stead as we shift gears over the coming weeks and months.

More details are provided in this newsletter.

I’m also announcing here additional funding of $16 million to support Transitional ITOs and WDCs – once they are established – to engage staff and work across industries and training providers on projects to determine training responses to the COVID-19 emergency.

This will enable the system to respond quickly as New Zealand positions for recovery.

Finally, I can confirm that the location for the headquarters for Te Pūkenga will be Hamilton. It was a robust process and not an easy selection from a strong field. I would like to congratulate Hamilton and sincerely thank the other bids for the quality of their submissions and their passionate advocacy for their regions.