Whitireia and Weltec staff lose hope over proposed cuts

Saturday, 5 July 2025

Tutors at Wellington’s polytechnics could by the end of the year be managing library books and providing – or attempting – to provide language, reading and writing support, alongside their regular teaching roles.

It is the reality staff and union members fret, with the biggest impact falling on diverse, priority learners, as proposed cuts at Whitireia and Weltec are put on the table in a bid to save $12 million and become financially viable.

Business divisions of Te Pūkenga await a decision from the Government on the future of their sector, as the disestablishment of the megapolytechnic continues.

Programmes facing the axe include mechanical engineering, performing arts, writing, cookery, baking and hospitality.

According to the Tertirary Education Union (TEU), six roles are proposed to go in the libraries, and Māori carving and weaving programmes are under threat.

It was also concerned by the loss of programmes that provide skills for learning and working for students with disabilities.

A long-time staff member, concerned about the cuts but who did not want to be named for fear of repercussions, said there were huge numbers of students entering polytechs with a need for extra assistance each year. It could not be offered by tutors and meant they were reliant on learning advisers whose jobs were looking to be disestablished.

“What they’re doing is removing any gains we’ve made in creating a much more inclusive environment.”

Learning support advisers worked with students for whom English was their second language, international students and neurodivergent students.

People had also been inspecting the library at Whitireia and asking staff questions about the space, but the polytech had “not been upfront with anything”, the staff member said.

They understood books under each subject would be housed at each school and staff would be required to manage them.

“This is on top of the already full schedule of teaching and marking, plus any extra work that will need to be done with the loss of the learning advisers, and now they're also going to be expected to manage the library collection.”

Disestablishing Te Pūkenga without consulting the sector was “reckless”, the staff member said.

Axing roles that supported students put more responsibility on teaching staff, who did not have the time or skills for certain specialised roles.

“Frankly, I’ve lost hope. The priority is not educating our future carpenters and engineers and plumbers and nurses and paramedics and social workers and counsellors – that should be the priority, but it's not. The priority is profit.”

Dr Leanne Ivil, operations lead of Whitireia and WelTec, said 70% of its programmes were confirmed for 2026.

Phase two of three rounds of proposals would look at others to make it sustainable for the next three to five years, she said.

A Te Pūkenga spokesperson confirmed a savings target of $12m was established at the beginning of the year.

All academics in the teaching and learning directorate and academic and learning support, as well as library staff were included in the proposal, which looked to cut 52 roles.

The future of its creative campus Te Kāhui Auaha was also up for review.

Consultation documents for phase one showed 12 staff were already cut. They included an education careers adviser, secondary tertiary liaison officer and a flexible learning adviser.

The decisions on phase two could be confirmed by the end of July, Ivil said.

Whitireia and Weltec are among 11 polytechs that were in deficit when Te Pūkenga formed. It had dropping enrolment numbers, from 6547 domestic fulltime students and 1219 international in 2018, to 3571 domestic and 301.5 international students last year.

According to a consultation report released under the Official Information Act, they went into 2025 in deficit.

Each of the 16 polytechs are undergoing cost-cutting exercises in a bid to be financially viable.

Teritiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds will announce this month which polytechs will be able to stand alone, those that could operate with support from an anchor polytech – likely to be the Open Polytechnic, or face closure.