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Last year’s review by the State Services Commission of the education sector agencies highlighted the scale of change over the last 15 years across education, including tertiary education. The review noted that the character and extent of change must not be underestimated and that it impacts on students, teachers, parents, communities and employers, as well as education providers.

This large-scale change is not solely due to the government improving education policies. It is also driven by much larger changes in society, technology and the economy, both domestically and globally. These large-scale changes are unlikely to abate in the foreseeable future.

As the philosopher Alvin Toffler said: “Change is the process by which the future invades our lives.” Change management no longer means moving from one state of affairs to another. It is about anticipating the next major wave of change and being adaptable and flexible in meeting it.

Therefore, the question we need to ask is not “How do we manage each change?” but rather “How can we remain ready to manage ongoing change?”. To quote Alvin Toffler again: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Part of managing change is to develop and improve our knowledge and evidence about what we are achieving now and the direction that we are heading in. This monitoring report, I believe, provides a good base for understanding the current state of the tertiary education system and direction it is heading in.

We also need to build agreement as to where we would like to be. We need to consider, in light of the evidence, not only how to get to where we want to go, but also what directions other changes may push us in and how we can respond to them.

These issues will be a major part of the discussions we will be holding as we develop the next Tertiary Education Strategy and Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities.

As I have said many times, New Zealand is ready to move from having a good education system to creating a great education system. To do this, we need to meet future change head on — with openness to learning, unlearning and relearning.

I commend this report to you and look forward to the discussions that it will stimulate about how we step up to meet the challenges of change.

Howard Fancy
SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION

← Foreword by the Minister for Tertiary 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