Waiariki faces loss of jobs, students | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Hundreds of potential tertiary students will be left in limbo and jobs may be lost as Waiariki Institute of Technology reviews courses and entry criteria in the face of Government funding cuts.

Government capping on student numbers will see entry requirements tightened at Rotorua's biggest tertiary institute next year. Waiariki's Mokoia campus is home to about 3000 domestic full-time students but next year that is expected to shrink to 2700, says chief executive Pim Borren.

The number of new places available at the institute will drop from 2000 to 1400 and those wishing to study are being advised to enrol before Christmas so they don't miss out.

Students will be required to pay their fees in full before their course starts and those who pay early will be given priority. Course entry requirements will also become stricter as Waiariki looks at ways to restrict the number of students.

After previously having little or no entry requirements for most courses, students with the best academic results will now take precedence.

All Waiariki campuses, including Whakatane, Taupo, Tokoroa and Kawerau will be affected.

Student Tania Tapsell, 18, said it was devastating for the future of youth in Rotorua.

"It will shorten the opportunity for students to get what they want," she said. "For some people it's not a reality to go over to Hamilton and study."

Miss Tapsell, who is completing a New Zealand Diploma in Business at the Institute, said it was important to have training available locally for youth.

"There's not enough jobs [in Rotorua] and it will push up the unemployment rate."

In the last four years Waiariki has doubled in size but 2011 will see it shrink by about 10 per cent, Dr Borren predicts.

"There'll be lots of students who won't get in."

He said while he thought the number of students would rise again in 2012, it was unlikely the institute would grow any more.

Dr Borren believes such harsh capping during a recession is short-sighted of the Government.

"[They] should have been more lenient with the cap."

Dr Borren said the Government should have been focusing on upskilling. When the economy picked up the unemployment rates would drop and the country would be faced with a skills shortage, he said.

Those hardest hit would be adult students, especially people who had lost their jobs and needed to re-train. Adult students make up most of the student body at Waiariki while school leavers make up 12 per cent.

One of the biggest intakes is the Bachelor of Nursing course which previously accepted one in two applications. Next year just one in five will be accepted because more students will apply but there will be no new spaces available.

Some courses would be cut which would lead to staff losses although that wasn't something yet being discussed, Dr Borren said.

Ministry of Education senior manager Ben O'Meara said a capping system was necessary for the Government to have certainty about how much funding it was committing to tertiary education each year.

Mr O'Meara said under a capped funding system there was a possibility some people would not be able to enrol in their first choice of study.

However, he said expenditure and the number of Government-funded student places had actually increased during the recession.

Mr O'Meara said Waiariki was in a fairly unique situation.

"Across the whole ITP [Institutes of Technology and Polytech] sector the number of funded core student places will increase by 455 in 2011," he said.

PREVIOUS REQUIREMENTS Most courses had no entry requirements.

-Students could pay their fees up to two weeks after their course start date.

-Students could sign up and begin their course in the week it started.

-New requirements:

-Academic results will now take precedence.

-Students will have to pay their fees in full before their course start date.

-Those who pay their fees earlier will be given priority.

-Tight space means early enrolment is advised.