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Many of the issues raised in this evaluation are being addressed in the development of the next TES, and also through changes to funding and quality assurance arrangements.

Stronger focus on priorities

The discussion document on developing the second Tertiary Education Strategy states that the new TES will be structured around the broad contribution that the tertiary education system makes to the country and “will give priority to improving a limited number of outcomes of strategic and long-term importance to New Zealand as a nation”. The STEPs will “set out the few critical system shifts that are necessary in the short term to achieve the longer-term direction”. Monitoring of the next TES will also focus on “the key shifts in the tertiary education system’s performance … [and] involve a small number of key quantitative and qualitative indicators”.

The focus on a few critical priorities is not meant to limit the focus of the tertiary education. Rather, it is responding to feedback on the first TES for “a more limited and focused set of priorities [that] will make the strategy more meaningful and help to clarify priorities and direct effort”.

Linking strategy, funding, and quality assurance

From 2008, the government will progressively introduce a new approach to planning, funding. and quality assurance and monitoring in the tertiary education system. These changes include:

• building a network of provision in which providers collaborate, rather than compete, and focus on making their distinctive contribution to regional and national skills advancement

• strengthening quality assurance, so it is more focused on assessing the outcomes for students, for employers, and for the community at large

• shifting from funding places in tertiary education to investing in plans developed by tertiary providers.

The TES and STEP will set the direction for the tertiary education sector, with the funding, monitoring, and quality assurance systems aligned to achieve that direction. The TEC will adopt a more investment-based approach by making more active and considered funding decisions, having more diversified and sophisticated approaches to funding a differentiated network of provision, and taking a longer-term view.

Improved agency coordination

In response to the Education Sector Review, the Ministry of Education, the TEC and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority have been working more closely together. Within the development of the new funding and quality assurance arrangements, attention is being given to aligning the activities of each agency to provide more effective services to the tertiary education sector. The TEC has strengthened its external stakeholder advisory processes.

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