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The Tertiary Education Strategy 2002/07 affirmed that:

As we move forward into the 21st century, tertiary education is becoming an increasingly complex task. No longer is it about getting a small proportion of the population through degrees and offering trade certificates for the rest. It involves a wide range of activity from foundation education to work-based training to cutting-edge research and development. Tertiary education no longer happens just in the lecture theatre, the laboratory or workshop and the library; it is also taking place in the wharekai at the marae, in the back paddock of the farm, in the dining room at home and in the lunch room at the office. It is supported by significant investment from students, their families, employers and industry, as well as from the government.

To manage within this complexity, a clear focus on outcomes is essential. This helps build agreement on, and understanding of, what makes a successful learner. It helps inform understanding about what is the essence of effective teaching and about the capabilities and relationships needed to support an effective tertiary education system. These include understanding, supporting and encouraging the learners in their pathways from school to tertiary education, to work and adult life, and, increasingly, back to tertiary education again.

Having good information about outcomes is important to build a strong system supported by effective policies and relationships with a range of stakeholders. This information provides the focus for setting priorities and strategic dialogue at all levels of the system.

The TES is fundamentally about putting the attention on outcomes and on the contribution tertiary education makes to the lives of New Zealanders, individually and as a nation.

The monitoring project is one part of creating the focus on outcomes. It symbolises the growing emphasis in public policy on evidence and the analysis of that evidence. It raises questions about how best to articulate outcomes and how to measure them. It raises questions about what factors lie behind successful outcomes. It helps frame questions about future priorities and the strategies and relationships that might be needed to get better outcomes.

This first annual monitoring report is a step along the way in a much larger and longer journey. It brings together new information about the performance and relevance of tertiary education in New Zealand. It provides glimpses of where the system is increasingly focused on outcomes and where greater attention needs to be given.

Howard Fancy
SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION

← Foreword by the Minister of Education | Home Page | The Tertiary Education Strategy →

• Table of Contents

• The State of Play

• Cross Strategy Indicators

• Raise foundation skills

• Skills for our knowledge society

• Strengthen research and knowledge creation

• Te rautaki mātauranga Māori

• Pacific people’s development and success

• Capability and quality

• Technical and Data Definitions