COVID-19 impact on students in tertiary education
The Government understands there is still uncertainty for students as the impacts of COVID-19 continue to unfold. Our key priorities in response to COVID-19 have been to make sure students can continue their studies, and are able to access financial support and pastoral care.
We will continue to look at ways we can support students as we recover from COVID-19. In doing so, it is especially important that students’ voices are heard and heeded.
We are working on improving student voice in tertiary education
In 2018, we started a conversation with Aotearoa New Zealand about what matters most in education. As part of the Kōrero Mātauranga | Education Conversation, we have heard from students, whānau, educators and communities about the importance of student voice to students, staff and providers.
We also heard there are pockets of good practice in our tertiary system where student voice is listened to and incorporated. But there is also room for improvement.
We consulted with the public from 21 August to 4 October 2019 on the current state of student voice. We also wanted to hear how student voice works for students, staff, and providers, and how it could be enhanced across three areas:
The discussion document from this consultation can be viewed here: Tertiary Student Voice Discussion Paper [PDF 737KB].
Thank you to everyone who participated in the consultation
The ideas, thoughts and opinions you shared will help shape our thinking around ways to enhance student voice in Aotearoa New Zealand’s tertiary education system. The results from this consultation are now available.
We heard from a wide range of people across Aotearoa New Zealand, including through 329 survey responses, 18 written submissions, and nine face-to-face meetings.
Through consultation we heard there is room to improve student voice
There were nine key themes that were raised about how student voice currently works and how it could be enhanced going forward. These were:
There was wide support for the focus areas as a means to enhance student voice
There was broad support for the three focus areas with particularly strong support for establishing a national centre for student voice. Many people noted a national centre as a key way to enhance student voice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
For more detail about the feedback we received through consultation, please see the two papers below:
What we have been working on in the meantime
Since the consultation, we developed and implemented the interim Education (Pastoral Care of Domestic Tertiary Students) Code of Practice. The Code has a strong student voice lens and provides a new regulatory instrument for student voice.
There is further work to be done to develop an ongoing version of the Code. This includes work to ensure the Code is fit-for-purpose in requiring tertiary providers to have appropriate student voice processes in place.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about the work on enhancing student voice in tertiary education, please contact us at the Tertiary Strategy Mailbox: Tertiary.Strategy@education.govt.nz.