Postgrad Un-support: Positioning Education as a Private Good.

Postgrad living cost support has been stripped  from 2013. Without support postgrad study is very difficult. Some would say pointless, insomuch as the student will not be able to focus on the study at the level required to get good marks. It is like asking someone to cook a restarant quality meal for six while [...]

Educating the Privileged

If it were not for Massey’s commitment to distance study, part time study could become a thing of the past in New Zealand. Massey is under pressure to improve its completions and part time distance students are the group that is under-performing according to the Tertiary Education Commission.

Can you afford this?

Fortunately Massey [...]

What Student Voice?

Last week the Tertiary Education Commission were forced to explain why they had not acted to replace the student member of their Board, or advised the members of the TEC’s Learner Advisory Committee that they will no longer be required. The answer appears to be that they feel they do not need student views.

Literature supports [...]

Review the TES Priorities: a letter to the Minister

Dear Minister Joyce,

Recent public discussion of the effectiveness and suitability of New Zealand’s tertiary education has raised concerns about indebted young graduates leaving for better paid work overseas, and financial penalties for institutions with significant numbers of part time students. These issues are a product of our Tertiary Education Strategy.

The TES focus [...]

EXMSS Membership Pays Back

The latest Government published figures rank Massey as the poorest performer due to its part time distance students. These students are predominantly adult women and second chance learners.

The message behind these performance figures is that part time and distance study is a poor relation to traditional on-campus delivery. The TES adds to this by [...]

Summer School Enrolment Close

It came as a shock even though the signs were there. I feel more could have been done to prevent this from happening and more could have been done to advise students in a more timely way. That said it is clearly the Government’s Tertiary Education Strategy (TES) that has closed Massey’s doors this summer. [...]