West Coast leaders make last-minute push to save region’s polytech

Sunday, 6 July 2025

Tai Poutini Polytechnic’s main building is in Greymouth on the West Coast.

West Coast leaders are developing a plan they believe will ensure the survival of tertiary education in the region, as the Government pushes ahead with vocational education reforms.

Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds said this week a decision on the future of 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) - which have been part of Te Pūkenga since 2020 - will be made this month.

Under a proposed new model, ITPs will need to demonstrate financial viability to continue in their current form, including minimum student enrolments of 18 per course.

Grey mayor Tania Gibson says it’s “very important” for young people to have tertiary education opportunities on the West Coast.

Each ITP could become a stand-alone polytech, an anchor polytech, or part of a federation.

West Coast polytech Tai Poutini employs 55 staff and serves about 250 students across three campuses. Its courses include outdoor education, jade and hard stone carving, infrastructure works, agriculture, business, cookery, hospitality, carpentry, automotive, and engineering.

Grey mayor Tania Gibson said a working group of local leaders was formed a few months ago to ensure tertiary education remained on the Coast. The group includes the chief executives and chairpeople of Development West Coast, the Grey High School Trades Academy, iwi and local MP Maureen Pugh

Minister of Vocational Education Penny Simmonds says a decision on the future of 16 New Zealand polytechs and institutes of technology is imminent.

“We don't want our youth having to go away for these opportunities.”

They aimed to submit a proposal to the minister after a workshop on July 24.

West Coast Tasman MP Maureen Pugh, of the National party, said she’d told the group a new model of tertiary education provision was needed to meet the Government’s financial viability objectives.

MP Maureen Pugh says a plan to bring West Coast teritary education providers together will ensure the survival of the region’s polytech.

The group was working to bring all the region’s training providers together to deliver education through one institution, sharing costs. It would allow Tai Poutini to survive, but not in its current form, she said.

“All of those different organisations and groups of people who are working independently of each other are now all in the same room.”

Pugh was “quitely optimistic” the proposal would be ready by the end of the month, but wasn’t sure it would be delivered before the minister announced her decision.

Darren Mitchell is the executive director of Ara, which has been supporting Tai Poutini.

“I’ve kept her up to date with progress so far, and she’s very comfortable to give us a bit more time.”

Simmonds said she had met with Pugh and other West Coast leaders and appreciated the local commitment to Tai Poutini Polytechnic. She welcomed “constructive input as part of the broader reform process”.

Tai Poutini has not delivered a surplus for many years. It posted a deficit of $7.8 million in 2019, and has managed to reduce this to a net deficit of $5m in the 2024 budgeted year, Ara Institue of Canterbury executive director Darren Mitchell said.

Development West Coast chief executive Heath Milne says despite a range of online and private training providers on the Coast, having on-campus vocational education is still important, particularly for high school leavers.

Ara has been providing executive support to Tai Poutini since the resignation of its executive director, Dr Robert Davis, in September after one month in the role. The role was not being recruited for, given Simmonds’ pending decision about the future of ITPs, Mitchell said.

“Realistically, returning to surplus will be difficult for Tai Poutini to achieve. To be a standalone institution, polytechnics must demonstrate long-term financial viability. Therefore, the future structure of the polytechnic is expected to differ from how it has looked in the past.

“[Tai Poutini] will continue reviewing its course offerings to ensure they meet regional workforce needs,” he said.

When asked about the potential for a merger between Ara and Tai Poutini, Mitchell said that could risk Ara’s relatively strong position.

“There is awareness in the decision makers' minds, I’m sure, that to take a financially viable institution and a non-viable institution and sort of mash them together, you do risk actually compromising the financially viable one.”

The decision was out of his hands ultimately, he said, but there would need to be a 'significant transition plan” to address the risks if the two were directed to merge.

Development West Coast chief executive Heath Milne said having a skilled, well-trained workforce was vital for taking advantage of the region’s many opportunities for growth.

Providing the region’s youth with career options was another driver for the group.

“The polytech here has been a good pathway into the workforce for a lot of students who potentially could otherwise end up being lost to the workforce.”