Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister, Paul Goldsmith, has today introduced the Education (Tertiary Education and Other Matters) Amendment Bill to Parliament.
The Bill is designed to update legislation that affects the everyday running of tertiary education organisations.
“This Bill will allow for more flexibility in the tertiary funding framework, and improve accountability in return,” Mr Goldsmith says.
“The government has already improved the monitoring of tertiary organisations in response to recent investigations, and the proposals in this Bill will allow for better information collection and oversight of providers.”
A number of changes are also being made to expand student protection arrangements in response to issues raised in the past year.
“We need to ensure that the right settings are in place to support domestic and international student’s safety and wellbeing and ensure they receive a consistently high-quality education in New Zealand.”
The Bill makes a number of largely technical proposals which:
- increase the flexibility of funding
- further strengthen monitoring and compliance
- ensure consistent treatment of tertiary education providers
- broaden student protection arrangements.
The Bill is also an opportunity to look at some minor matters that need updating in the Education Act.
“Both public and private education providers that achieve good education outcomes for New Zealanders should receive comparable funding. Introducing a requirement that providers are funded consistently I hope will encourage innovation and better performance in the tertiary sector.
The Government consulted on an exposure draft of the Bill in September and October 2016, and a number of improvements have been made to the Bill as a result of the submissions received.
| A Beehive release | February 8, 2017 ||