University or what!?

University or what!?

The budget reveals that the government plans to provide Manukau city with another University. This would mean that Manukau City would now have two tertiary providers for the same region, an obvious waste of money and resources when the simple, cost effective choice would be to create a Dual Sector University of Technology.

A Dual Sector University of Technology provides the types of courses that are responsible for up-skilling those people in important sectors such as trades. The President of USU. Student Association at Unitec, Greg Powell, believes that not only would Manukau City benefit from this type of Tertiary provider, but that Waitakere City would as well. He believes that a traditional university will no longer adequately provide for the ever-growing need for higher education in this “great middle ground” job market.

“There is a need to not only create welders and builders, but to also to cater to the need for under graduate and post graduate education in any number of trades or business: only a University of Technology can supply this need to both the West and the South.

“Manukau Institute of Technology just went thorough a massive restructuring” says Greg, bringing concern to whether it can supply the standard of education now needed for the great middle ground person of today’s Aotearoa.

Today’s budget acknowledges the ever-growing interest rates and costs of living. It costs more to live and so therefore, “to earn more money, to raise your standard of life, you need to be good at what you do and education is a key part of that,” says Greg. “I believe that if the government put more resources into recognizing and providing Dual Sector Universities of Technology in the Waitakere and Manukau areas, the people of those cities would benefit immensely.”

ENDS

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