The report, which covers the 9-month period from Te Pūkenga establishment on 1 April 2020 to 31 December 2020, is a major milestone and pulls together information from 16 independently operating tertiary providers.
Te Pūkenga Chief Executive Stephen Town said the report required significant effort across the network to prepare a consolidated report that covered vocational learning right across the country.
“The report looks at 16 subsidiaries, with 153,900 learners, 150 campuses and almost 8,000 FTE staff,” Mr Town said.
“We had 36,300 graduates – 22 percent at Levels 1-3, 57 percent at Levels 4-7and 21 percent at degree and post-graduate level. 79 percent of courses were completed, including 69 percent for Māori.
“It gives us a sense of the task at hand by providing a snapshot in time of our whānau, places and financial situation.
“The establishment of Te Pūkenga kicked off a raft of work to develop our accountability arrangements, get our leadership and governance in place begin co-design of our operating model. Of the 16 initial establishment activities identified, 13 were achieved in 2020 and progress was made on the remaining three.
“We began work to establish a Staff Advisory Committee and conducted our first staff survey to understand how our whānau across the network are feeling about the changes ahead. We also established Te Poari Akoranga, a national academic board, and Te Pae Tawhiti Te Tiriti Excellence Framework across the network.
“I was pleased to see our people respond positively – they can see a future for themselves at Te Pūkenga, they understand the need for change and they feel that those around them are open to new ways of working,” Mr Town said.
Covid-19 had a significant impact on our campuses, reducing income and operating expenses due to campus closures over lockdown and delaying projects. This led to higher current balances and assets than budgeted.
“Our campus network assets, valued at $2 billion, provide the infrastructure for our learners, academic and professional staff. Work on a capital asset strategy is now underway to evaluate the spaces we have, whether they are fit-for-purpose and what we might need in the future,” Mr Town said.
Financially, the report shows a deficit across the network for the 9-month period. When a full 12-month year is considered, a small surplus is shown.
You can read the 2020 Annual Report here - Te Pūkenga 2020 Annual Report.