‘They are broken, they loved their jobs’: Upset as Ara sheds 23 jobs in plan to stand alone

Friday, 27 June 2025

Job cuts at Ara Institute of Canterbury are expected to save about $600,000.

A restructure at Ara Institute of Canterbury has cut 23.4 full-time equivalent roles in management, Māori and Pacific student support, marketing and recruitment and put an end to free drop-in computer classes.

The cuts were expected to save at least $1.3m in 2025.

Tertiary Education Union (TEU) Ara branch co-president Charmaine Tukua, who teaches Te Reo Māori, said Māori and Pacific support staff who had their roles disestablished were devastated.

“They are broken, they loved their jobs, they loved their students and they were there for the right reasons - you don’t go into education for the money.”

The restructure comes ahead of a decision by Cabinet on the future of the individual institutes and polytechnics, expected within the next two weeks. Financial viability is an essential criteria for their survival.

Te Pūkenga, the organisation the institutes and polytechnics were amalgamated into in 2020, will be disestablished from November but remain in place as an entity until the end of 2026.

Ara Institute of Canterbury executive director Darren Mitchell.

Ara’s executive director Darren Mitchell said the changes were needed to ensure the organisation’s future viability following the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga.

Mitchell described the changes as a necessary “adjustment”, but said the organisation was “really well positioned” to stand alone. Ara posted a deficit of just under $2 million for the year end 2024 and expected a smaller deficit for 2025 before achieving a surplus in 2026, Mitchell told The Press.

Staff cuts included 9.9 full-time equivalent (FTE) management roles in academic faculties, seven from the integration of Ākonga Success, Māori Success and Pacific Achievement teams and 6.5 from the integration of Marketing, Engagement and International teams.

Minister for Vocational Education Penny Simmonds will announce the future of 16 institutes and polytechnics including Ara soon.

Mitchell said a proposal to cut learning support roles from nine to six was dropped as a result of strong opposition by staff during the consultation process.

The final changes increased learning support roles to 11 FTE.

He said the organisation had been able to contain the staff cuts to a relatively small number but acknowledged the impact on affected staff.

“I don’t want to diminish that actually we’re talking about 23 people ultimately, whose lives are being impacted and that’s very significant for them.

“I think ultimately we’ve managed to find a balance between what can we afford to do and what actually is the priority in order to continue to meet the needs of our learners.”

Tukua said the Māori and Pacific student support roles were created after the Christchurch earthquakes to provide culturally responsive pastoral care for students in hardship, with support such as help to access food grants, petrol vouchers and housing support.

A restructure at Ara was a needed “adjustment” to keep the institute viable, ahead of standing alone when Te Pūkenga is disestablished in November, executive director Darren Mitchell said.

The increase in two FTE for learning services roles would not make up for the losses, tutors would end up filling the gap and this would create an unsustainable work load, she said.

“I feel for the tutors, they will end up being counsellors, mum, dad, on top of their teaching.”

Mitchell said two roles of associate director Māori and Pacific success in the new structure would ensure “cultural expertise remains central” and there would be student adviser specialists for Māori, Pacific, youth, disabled and Southern campus communities.

The Tertiary Education Union (TEU) estimated about 300 roles will be cut across eight of 16 institutes and polytechnics, while restructuring plans for two more are soon to be confirmed.

Reviews of the financial performance of the 16 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITP) by external consultants informed restructure plans, Minister for Vocational Education Penny Simmonds told the education select committee this month.

A request by The Press for the reviews was declined by Te Pūkenga as it did “not believe the need to withhold this information is outweighed by the public interest in its release at this time”.

After a complaint to the Ombudsman, Te Pūkenga reviewed its decision and said the reviews will be made available on its website in late July, pending consultation with each ITP.

Announcing the confirmation of Te Pūkenga’s disestablishment in December last year, Simmonds said this would “better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy”.

To achieve this, Simmonds said institutes and polytechnics would undertake “financial analysis to improve their financial performance, and this includes working through potential changes to provision and resourcing”.