Covid-19: SIT enrolments remain strong

Enrolments at the Southern Institute of Technology are strong, despite the expected profits for the year ended April 30 taking a hit.

At a meeting held in Invercargill yesterday, a report to the board showed the tertiary education provider’s total income for the year ended April 30 was $18,285,000.

Money spent by the institute in the same timeframe was $18,639,000.

Enrolments for the year as of June 9 were higher than the same time last year, with online learning courses SIT2LRN already reaching its targets for the year.

Income from international student fees was $2,936,000, however, restrictions on international students entering the country as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic affected income from that stream.

During the meeting, establishment board chairman Barry Jordan questioned why enrolments were fairly strong but finances had been below proposed budgets.

SIT chief financial officer Daryl Haggerty said SIT received less income per student for its online courses compared to other student enrolments.

SIT’s initiative to encourage those made redundant in the tourism industry into agriculture careers had seen almost full enrolments for its contractor course.

The first six-week contractors course started on Monday with 19 students enrolled out of its 20 person capacity.

SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds said it expected close to full numbers for the next intake and its three-day taster camps were also proving to be popular.

The institute’s cash reserve was $43.6m compared to $41.2m last year.

However, there were concerns about how much of its reserves would be ringfenced under the newly formed New Zealand Institute of Technology.

Modelling from a previous council meeting showed only $8,345,867 would be ring-fenced under the reformed institute.