Pursuant to sections 159R, 159Y, and 159YO of the Education Act 1989 (“Act”), the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) gives the following notice.

Title

This notice may be cited as the Education (Proposed Investment Plans: Content & Submission; Assessment Criteria; and Plan Summaries) Notice 2020 for the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST).

Commencement

This notice applies from the date of its publication.

Application

This notice only applies to the NZIST.

Introduction

A number of the funding mechanisms determined by the Minister of Education under section 159L of the Act specify funding to be paid by the TEC to fund eligible tertiary education organisations (TEOs) via investment plans (Plans).

As a new TEO, the NZIST is required to submit a proposed Plan to be eligible to access TEC funding under these funding mechanisms. In recognition of the transitions being implemented under the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) and the new formation of the NZIST, the proposed Plan can remain at a high level and include education programmes and activities for the 2021 funding period only in this round.

Pursuant to the Act, the TEC gives public notice of the following:

1. Section 159R:
1. the content of NZIST’s proposed Plan (being the particular matters that proposed Plans must address or include in order to meet the requirements in section 159P);
2. the kinds of background or supplementary information that the TEC requires the NZIST to provide in relation to a proposed Plan; and
3. the timetable and process for the submission of proposed Plans to the TEC.

2. Section 159Y: the criteria that the TEC will use to assess proposed Plans to determine if the NZIST’s Plan will receive funding approval.
3. Section 159YO: the matters that the NZIST must include in its Plan summary.

The NZIST has the option of using the Investment Plan template to assist with developing the proposed Plan.

1. Content of the NZIST’s Proposed Plan

A. Content

Mission and Role

Pursuant to section 159P(c), the NZIST must describe its mission and role for the term of the proposed Plan. In particular, the NZIST must:

• specify its role within the overall network of provision, and
• provide evidence of how it will give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi (“Treaty”) during the term of the proposed Plan.

The NZIST must also explain how it will perform its functions set out in its charter and in section 222B of the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill and meet the needs of regions throughout New Zealand.

Addressing the Needs of Stakeholders and Contribution to Government Priorities

Pursuant to section 159P(b) of the Act, the NZIST must describe how it will address the needs of its stakeholders (including, without limitation, learners enrolled with all its subsidiaries that provide education or training, or both). This must include a description of:

• who its key stakeholders are, which may include:
• learners enrolled with the subsidiaries or prospective learners (in particular those who are Māori or Pacific, young people, or people with low levels of literacy, language, and numeracy);
• employers, businesses or industries relevant to the subsidiaries’ areas of delivery;
• relevant regions and communities, including those that support Māori and Pacific learners;
• how the NZIST has identified and will respond to the needs of its key stakeholders in the community it serves; and
• how the NZIST will report to its key stakeholders on progress towards meeting their needs.

Pursuant to section 159P(a) of the Act, the NZIST must describe how its proposed Plan will give effect to the Government’s current and medium-term priorities as described in the Tertiary Education Strategy (TES). The Plan must outline how the NZIST intends to achieve each of the priorities specified in the TES. Proposed Plans must also respond to the priorities that the TEC sets in its Plan Guidance, Investment Briefs, and other strategic documents, in order to implement the TES.

Programmes and Activities

Pursuant to section 159P(d) and (f) of the Act, the NZIST must set out a description of how its proposed activities will support it to fulfil its mission and achieve its specific goals for the period. For example, this can be done by each NZIST subsidiary covered by the plan submitting separate mix-of-provision templates.

The description of programmes and activities must include information about:

• planned programmes and activities for which the NZIST is seeking funding, including planned learner numbers by New Zealand Qualification Framework Level and total funding sought (this information must be provided via the Mix of Provision templates which the TEC will provide to all TEOs by 30 June 2020);
• a brief description of other programmes and activities not funded by the TEC (this information must be provided either via the Mix of Provision templates or as part of a description of the Strategic Intent section of the NZIST’s Plan);
• a description of programmes and activities undertaken through subsidiaries that provide education or training, or both.ⁱ The description of the programmes and activities undertaken through subsidiaries must include:
• a description of the main activities undertaken by the subsidiary;
• the dollar value of the investment in the subsidiary;
• a brief description of the governance and accountability arrangements in place; and
• any key new activities the NZIST is contemplating undertaking over the Plan period;
• any subcontracting arrangements the NZIST has, which must be specified in a Subcontracting Register provided by the TEC.

Outcomes and Measures

Pursuant to section 159P(e) of the Act, the NZIST’s proposed Plan must describe its proposed outcomes (including, without limitation, in relation to the tertiary education programmes and activities for which funding is sought) and the performance indicators that the NZIST will use to measure whether those outcomes have been achieved.

In this Plan round, recognising the disruption of COVID-19 and other challenges the NZIST and its subsidiaries are experiencing, the requirement to submit an Education Performance Indicator Commitments (EPICs) has been waived. The TEC will use the EPICs previously submitted by the NZIST subsidiaries’ predecessors as performance commitments for the relevant subsidiaries. The NZIST or its subsidiaries could propose additional performance commitments as required.

An EPIC template will be provided to assist the NZIST subsidiaries to specify their performance commitments, if they choose to. This will include the need to set targets for each subsidiary which will contribute to parity of participation and achievement for Māori and Pacific learners.

The TEC will also provide the NZIST with a Learner Success template to assist it to describe its approach to improving outcomes for all learners. NZIST is required to use this template as part of its Plan submission.

The proposed Plan must describe:

• how the NZIST intends to respond to the priorities set by the TEC in its Plan Guidance, Investment Briefs, and other strategic documents;
• at a high level, how the NZIST subsidiaries’ predecessor Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) have performed against the performance commitments they made in their last Plan, particularly those relating to Māori and Pacific learners (for TEOs that have previously received Plan funding);
• how the NZIST intends to respond to data from the TEC about the NZIST subsidiaries’ predecessor ITPs’ post-study employment outcomes, and about the NZIST’s level of re-enrolments;
• at a high level, the key findings of any quality assurance reviews, whether of NZIST subsidiaries’ predecessor ITPs or otherwise;
• any key activities the NZIST is undertaking that are likely to have a significant impact on its educational performance or other outcomes;
• the NZIST’s governance and management capability in forecasting, planning, and implementation, and (where applicable) providing supplementary information such as capital asset management reporting. This includes demonstration of governance and management commitment to improving outcomes for Māori and Pacific learners; and
• the NZIST’s ability and commitment to work with other TEOs to build system responsiveness and sustainability, and pathways through the education system.
• explain how the NZIST will manage its capital assets to support its mission and role over the period of the proposed Plan (including any new significant capital initiatives); and
• include a forecast Statement of Service Performance to enable the NZIST to report in its Annual Report on its performance as compared to its proposed outcomes described in its proposed Plan.ⁱⁱ The forecast Statement of Service Performance must:
• be prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, including reporting costs summarised by key output classes/areas;
• reflect the full scope of the NZIST’s activities;
• focus on the outputs/services of the NZIST; and
• include measures and evidence about the quality of these outputs/services.

C. Process and Timetable

Pursuant to section 159R(1)(c) of the Act, the following timetable sets out the process and key dates for the submission of the proposed Plan to the TEC. The main submission deadlines are:

• NZIST’s proposed Plan to be submitted by 7 August 2020; and
• any final changes to NZIST’s proposed Plan, including to Mix of Provision (MoP) and EPI Commitments (EPICs) templates, to be submitted by 8 September 2020.

2. Criteria for Assessing Proposed Plans

Pursuant to section 159Y(1) of the Act, the TEC gives public notice of the criteria it will use to assess proposed Plans to determine if they will receive funding approval.

The criteria below enable the TEC to assess the extent to which the NZIST’s proposed Plan will contribute to achieving Government priorities (outlined in the TES, Plan Guidance, Investment Briefs, and other strategic documents), learner success outcomes, and address regional and national need, as well as the NZIST’s capability to deliver on its proposed Plan.

When assessing proposed Plans against the criteria, the TEC will take a holistic approach and may use a range of evidence, including, without limitation:

• the information contained in NZIST’s proposed Plan;
• information from TEC engagement and monitoring (including funding, past delivery and performance, organisational, and financial data of the group comprising all NZIST subsidiaries and their predecessors ITPs);
• The NZIST’s strategic plan;
• Plan engagement discussions;
• both national and regional demographic and economic data; and
• information about the post-study outcomes of learners.

The TEC will assess the proposed Plan using the following criteria:

Mission and Role

Whether, and to what extent, the proposed Plan gives the TEC confidence that the NZIST’s proposed mission and role:

• is appropriate and achievable given the past performance and delivery levels of the group comprising all NZIST subsidiaries and their predecessor ITPs taken together, and reflects effective governance and planning;
• sets an educationally and financially sustainable path for the NZIST that is consistent with its purpose and Charter; and
• will enable the organisation to give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi and meet the needs of regions throughout New Zealand.

Addressing the Needs of Stakeholders and Giving Effect to Government Priorities

Whether, and to what extent, the proposed Plan gives the TEC confidence that the NZIST:

• has and will continue to consult with and work to meet the needs of its key stakeholders and the regions throughout New Zealand;
• will meaningfully report its progress to key stakeholders;
• by successfully delivering its proposed Plan, including its planned provision and performance commitments, will contribute to the achievement of the Government's priorities, including the current and medium-term priorities described in the TES; and

• has responded to the priorities that the TEC sets in its Plan Guidance, Investment Briefs, and other strategic documents, in order to implement the TES.

Programmes and Activities

Whether, and to what extent, the proposed Plan gives the TEC confidence that:

• successful delivery of the programmes and activities proposed by the NZIST (including any Mixes of Provision and a capital asset plan where applicable) is likely and will support the goals set out in the NZIST’s proposed Plan;
• the NZIST has provided accurate information in its proposed Plan about all of its planned activities, including any programmes and activities undertaken through a subsidiary and any sub-contracting arrangements; and
• the programmes and activities proposed by the NZIST are consistent with regional and national tertiary education needs.

Outcomes and Measures

If an EPIC is submitted, whether, and to what extent, the TEC is confident that the performance commitments proposed in the NZIST’s Plan are:

• relevant and providing information about all significant programmes and activities the NZIST intends to undertake and how it will measure its performance against its proposed outcomes;
• achievable, and a meaningful improvement on the past performance (with reference to the minimum commitments, where applicable) of the group comprising all NZIST subsidiaries and their predecessor ITPs taken together, particularly with respect to regional needs and outcomes for priority learner groups; and
• meeting the expectations expressed in this notice regarding the inclusion of a forecast Statement of Service Performance in its proposed Plan, prescribed under section 159R(1)(a).

3. Plan Summary

Pursuant to section 159YO(1) of the Act, the NZIST must include in its Plan summary all the material described in the Content part in this notice, and its forecast Statement of Service Performance.

Nothing in this notice requires the NZIST to include in its Plan summary information that would:

• disclose a trade secret;
• be likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the NZIST; or
• prejudice or disadvantage the commercial activities of the NZIST.

Pursuant to section 159YO(2) of the Act, the NZIST’s Plan summary must be available for inspection by the public and copies made available to the public, either at no cost or no more than a reasonable cost.

Dated at Wellington this 30th day of June 2020.

TIM FOWLER, Chief Executive, Tertiary Education Commission.

Notes

i These include all subsidiaries, trusts, or in-substance subsidiaries. They must cover all entities included in the TEO’s consolidated group reporting in its most recent Annual Report.

ii Refer to sections 220(2A)(f) and 220(2B) of the Act and section 156 of the Crown Entities Act 2004.