Universities New Zealand reaffirms key principles

The key principles of education in New Zealand include - Excellence, Institutional autonomy, Complex organisations, Financial sustainability, and  higher education ecosystem.

Professor Cheryl de la Rey, Vice-Chancellor of University of Canterbury and Chair of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (NZVCC) has reaffirmed the key principles of education in New Zealand. These principles include Excellence, Institutional autonomy, Complex organisations, Financial sustainability, and higher education ecosystem.  

Professor Cheryl de la Rey stated that this year, an important focus of the NZVCC has been our engagement with members of the University Advisory and Sir Peter Gluckman. The discussions were around the activities of research, teaching and knowledge transfer, and the role of universities in governance and society.

Universities New Zealand conducted UAG process. It has many phases of consultation in a year. For each phase, the team of UNZ has drafted submissions reflecting the collective perspective of VCs. The final report will be submitted to the government in February 2025.

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"In New Zealand, the only major problem our universities are dealing with is income. 50.5% of university income is from the Government. Since 2019 income from the government has only increased 9.2% during a time when inflation has been 24%. A further 17.5% of income is domestic student fee income and the Minister determines the amount that this is able to increase annually. Since 2019 this domestic student fee income increased by 14% against inflation of 24%. Although universities have attempted to grow income across other areas, overall income has only grown by 14.8%. Universities would not be experiencing the current difficulties if government funding had just kept up with inflation," says the second phase of submission.

"Finally, we ask the UAG to remember that universities are not the entire higher education system. ITPs (Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics), wānanga, and some private training providers also provide degree and postgraduate level teaching and do research that attracts Crown research funding (including PBRF). UAG thinking about strategy, coordination, differentiation, and investment needs to reflect the fact that it is a complex system with very blurred boundaries," added the submission.

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