Tertiary Education Report: Budget 2014: ICT Graduate School

Transcription

1 This document has been released under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). Some information has been withheld under section 9(2)(a) - to protect the privacy of natural persons, including deceased people. These sections are marked as [3]. Some information has been withheld under section 9(2)(j) - to enable the Crown to negotiate without disadvantage or prejudice. These sections are marked as. Tertiary Education Report: Budget 2014: ICT Graduate School Date: 10 March 2014 TEC priority: Medium Security level: Budget sensitive Report no: B/14/00098 Minister s office No: ACTION SOUGHT Hon Steven Joyce Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Action sought Note the Budget 2014 proposals for an ICT Graduate School Agree we progress the proposal Deadline 21 March 2014 Enclosure: No Round Robin: No CONTACT FOR TELEPHONE DISCUSSION (IF REQUIRED) Name Position Telephone 1st contact Tim Fowler Chief Executive [3] Murray Johnson Chief Advisor, Strategy [3] [3] THE FOLLOWING DEPARTM ENTS/AGENCIES HAVE SEEN T HIS REPORT CERA DPMC ENZ ERO MBIE MoE MFAT MPIA MSD NZQA NZTE TEC TPK Treasury Minister s Office to Complete: Approved Declined Noted Needs change Seen Overtaken by Events See Minister s Notes Withdrawn Comments:

2 Executive Summary Firms employing ICT skills, and other stakeholders (such as industry bodies), are best placed to articulate how the Graduate School should best address their skill needs. It is therefore important that the specifics of the proposal are developed by education providers in collaboration with industry from the bottom-up. An expert advisory panel and tendering process will be used to determine the Graduate School operators, mixes of provision, precise numbers of students and how learning and research will be meaningfully linked to industry. The panel will also advise on key components of the curricula. R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/

3 Recommendations Hon Steven Joyce, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment It is recommended that you: 3. note that the details of the initiative will be developed in conjunction with industry and providers once Budget announcements have been made, to ensure that industry skill needs will be addressed and to encourage industry participation; 4. note that we estimate that once fully established there will be up to 350 EFTS per annum from 2018 delivered through the Graduate School; R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/

4 8. note that officials will provide final costings for the proposals as part of the development of your Budget 2014 package; and 9. note that if you agree to the proposal, and once Budget 2014 announcements are made, we will begin working with industry and providers on the development of the proposal. 10. direct the Tertiary Education Commission and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to progress work on the Budget 2014 ICT Graduate School, including developing communications for a Budget announcement in liaison with the Ministry of Education; YES / NO Tim Fowler Chief Executive, Tertiary Education Commission / / Hon Steven Joyce Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment / / R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/

5 Purpose 1. This paper provides details of the Budget 2014 initiative for a Graduate School or Schools to help address Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills issues. Background ICT Graduate School or Schools R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/

6 Design and delivery 10. Firms employing ICT skills, and other stakeholders (such as industry bodies), are best placed to articulate how a Graduate School would best address the sector s skill needs. It is therefore important that the specifics of the proposal are developed by education providers in collaboration with industry. The Government s role is to set the high-level strategic policy objectives and performance and monitoring requirements. 11. An expert advisory panel will be used to determine the mixes and level of provision, precise numbers of students and how learning and research will be meaningfully linked to industry. The panel will also advise on key components of the curricula. R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/

7 Implementation 13. The specifics of implementation and delivery will be determined through the selection of successful bids in the tender process. Below are some of the things we will consider during that process. Number of schools and locations Monitoring and reporting 15. Tertiary providers and their industry partners will be required to produce long-term strategies for the development and performance of the schools, and report annually on across a range of outcome measures and agreed milestones, including participation, completions, numbers of industry partnerships / projects, internships, work placements and graduate employment outcomes. Timing Size 17. Because it will take time for any growth in ICT student numbers to flow through to the precincts, the first few years of the initiative will likely involve a mix of students who are already in the tertiary pipeline and students additional to the system. However, providers will need to grow their student intake over time to fill the additional graduate school places. R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/

8 We would also look to grow the innovative programmes in affiliated sites through reprioritisation of existing, lower value EFTS. R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/

9 Risks The following table identifies potential risks to the proposal and mitigation actions. Table 3 Potential risks and mitigation actions Risk Precinct development is delayed or does not eventuate. Delays have the potential to slow implementation of the proposal. Some ICT providers may view the initiative as competition, creating unnecessary duplication that could have a negative impact on their enrolments. Mitigation We will expect tender applicants to provide options to address this in their submissions. Alternative locations will also be considered. The development of innovative ICT programmes can also occur outside and prior to precinct development and colocation of a graduate school. Current lct provision is not meeting labour market needs. This initiative is focussed on growing the number of graduates with industry relevant skills and knowledge, over and above current levels, and future-proofing the ICT skills supply for a rapidly growing industry. It is intended to complement current provision and unless low value provision is being delivered, we do not expect that this would significantly impact on most ICT providers. R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/

10 There is insufficient growth in the ICT (and more generally STEM) pipeline of students. We propose a coordinated campaign to promote ICT careers in schools to attach students into ICT careers. This would involve working with MBIE (the Science and Society project in particular), Callaghan Innovation, the Ministry of Education, Careers NZ, and tertiary providers to target secondary schools. Focussing tertiary investments towards high-performing ICT provision 25. Firms employing ICT skills have said that the quality of ICT provision is variable between providers. We currently have limited information as to what specific ICT provision and providers best meet industry needs. 26. As part of the development and implementation of the initiative above, the TEC and MBIE will work with firms employing ICT skills and industry bodies to identify the most valued and indemand ICT qualifications. The aim would be to refocus some of the TEC s investments towards these. This would likely result in the retiring of some ICT provision at some providers and growth in others and/or between levels of provision. 27. We would also look at what opportunities for alignment with New Zealand Qualifications Authority s rationalisation of below degree-level ICT qualifications through the Targeted Review of Qualifications. Next Steps 28. If you agree that officials progress the Graduate School proposals, we will start preparing: the terms of reference for the expert panel; details and timelines for the implementation and Request for Proposals process; and Budget communications liaising with the Ministry of Education to include this in your overall Budget package. 29. Once Budget announcements have been made we intend on holding workshops with key stakeholders. This will include testing the high-level outcomes and will inform the development of the RfP. We will report back to you on the outcomes of workshops with a draft RfP. R E P O R T NUM B E R: B/14/