TEC should be alarmed at wasteful research courses

new-zealand-national-party

Mon Apr 02 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

TEC should be alarmed at wasteful research courses

Monday, 2 April 2007, 8:07 am
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

TEC should be alarmed at wasteful research & courses

News that the taxpayer is forking out thousands of dollars to pay for research on ‘bogans’ should be setting off alarm bells at the Tertiary Education Commission, says National Party Tertiary Education spokesman Paul Hutchison.

“However, I fear that TEC is not listening after hearing the complacent attitude of chief executive Janice Shiner at the education and science select committee last week.

“She told the committee she ‘couldn’t guarantee’ that so-called soft courses like twilight golf, homeopathy for pets, or sing-along sessions had been removed.

“When asked whether some of these soft courses still exist, she replied ‘I’m sure’.

“It is astounding that after spending so many millions over the past few years, TEC hasn’t managed to eliminate this waste.

“Only two days later, Janice Shiner actually defended the award of $96,000 to a Waikato University student to study ‘the everyday life of Bogans and their practices which include “moshing” and “head banging”.’

“This is all very interesting,” says Dr Hutchison. “But how is this type of research actually going to improve our economic performance?

“The public can have little faith in a bureaucracy that approves research like this.

“TEC is a huge bureaucracy that has 326 staff, and a turnover rate of 18%. It is spending about $8 million on restructuring after only three years of existence.”

Dr Hutchison says National will continue to be vigilant and uncover the waste and bureaucracy that the Labour Government has created in the tertiary sector.

ends

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