Cash injection for struggling polytech

The Government will pump $8.5 million into a struggling West Coast polytechnic after a report found the provider failed to deliver enough course hours over a fiveyear period.

A Crown manager has been in place at Tai Poutini Polytechnic since 2016 due to concerns over financial losses and weaknesses in student education. A Tertiary Education Commission investigation into the institution began in February 2016.

The investigation’s findings, released on Wednesday, show the polytech – which has campuses in Greymouth, Reefton and Westport – delivered far fewer hours than required across several courses between 2010 and 2015.

Tai Poutini’s financial difficulties meant it was unable to repay funding. Tertiary Education Commission monitoring and Crown ownership manager Dean Winter said the commission would not pursue about $21.2m-worth of under-delivery money from the five-year period.

It also would not seek repayment of $3.65m in under-delivery after Tai Poutini trained fewer students than planned, he said.

Programmes reviewed in the probe included scaffolding, search and rescue, quarrying, mining, crane operations, and occupational safety and health.

‘‘In some of the scaffolding programmes, students were receiving as little as 10 per cent of the teaching hours they were meant to,’’ Winter said.

‘‘That means that in a course where students were expected to receive nearly 200 hours of training, they only did 20.’’

Qualifications gained between 2010 and 2015 had been from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and would remain valid, he said, as it was found students were up to standard despite Tai Poutini failing to meet required teaching hours. The commission’s findings were historical, Winter said, and did not reflect current practices at Tai Poutini.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins on Wednesday announced the Government would pay Tai Poutini an additional $8.5m to keep it running and to improve quality until there were wider institutes of technology and polytechnics sector changes.

It was clear Tai Poutini, which also has campuses in Wanaka, Christchurch and Auckland, had been in serious trouble and that substantial change was needed, Hipkins said.