Country Profile: New Zealand

Geography

Area	Land area: 268,671 sq km (103,734 sq mi)
Capital (2009)	Wellington (capital (386,000)
Largest city (2009)	Auckland (1,333,300)
Other large cities (2009)	Christchurch (386,100), Hamilton (200,300)
Climate	cool temperate to subtropical climate, strongly influenced by oceanographic factors with sharp regional contrasts
Time Difference	GMT + 12 (Apr-Sept), + 13 (Sept-Apr) hours

People

Nationality	New Zealander
Population (2008)	4,173,460
Annual population growth rate (year ending June 2010)	1.3
Age Structure (2010 est.)	0-14 years: 20.7% (male 447,174/female 424,522) 15-64 years: 66.5% (male 1,404,143/female 1,399,530) 65 years and over: 12.8% (male 244,986/female 293,063)
Urbanization	urban population: 87% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: growth 0.9% p.a. 1970–90 and 1.2% p.a. 1990–2006, 1% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Ethnic groups	European 76.8%; Maori 14.9%; Asian 9.7%; other Polynesian Pacific peoples 7.2%; Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African 0.9%. (Note: People can choose to identify with more than one ethnic group.)
Languages	English 98% Te Reo Māori 4.2% NZ Sign Language 0.6% (all official)
Religion (2006 Census)	Christian 55.6%, no religion 34.7%, Hindu 1.5%, Buddhist 1.3%, Islam/Muslim 0.8%, Jewish 0.2%, Spiritualism/New Age 0.5%, other 0.6%
Life expectancy (2010 est.)	80, male: 78.52 years, female: 82.53 years
Infant mortality rate (2006)	5.1/1,000

Government

Government type	Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy in the Westminster tradition, member of the Commonwealth
Head of State	Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by the Governor-General, Lt Gen Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae (since August 2011) Head of Government: Prime Minister, the Hon Mr John Key
Independence	Somewhat debatable: British Parliament passed the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 - granted settlers the right to self-governance. Treaty of Waitangi 1840 – claimed British sovereignty with modern reservations expressed about this/ Dominion of the United Kingdom status declared: 26 September 1907 not formally recognised by the Statute of Westminster until 1931. Also not given freedom in matters of foreign affairs or the military. In 1939, Governor-General ceased to be Britain's High Commissioner to New Zealand, rather became the position of an independent officer. In 1947 the last restrictions on the right of NZ parliament to amend its constitution were removed. New Zealand doesn’t formally celebrate an Independence day, rather it observes Treaty of Waitangi Day every 6 February.
Constitution	No formal, written constitution. Consists of a series of legal documents, including certain acts of the UK and New Zealand parliaments, as well as The Constitution Act 1986, which is the principal formal charter; adopted 1 January 1987.
Legal system	Based on English law
Suffrage	Universal at 18 years
Administrative divisions	16 regions and 1 territory; Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Chatham Islands, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Marlborough, Nelson, Northland, Otago, Southland, Taranaki, Tasman, Waikato, Wellington, West Coast

Education

Literacy (age 15 and over can read & write) (2008 regional average)	Adult 15+ % total population: 93.7 % Male 96.3 % Female 91.0 Youth 15-24 total 98.3 Male 98.4 Female 98.1 (2008 regional average)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) (2008)	total: 19 years, male: 19 years, female: 20 years
Years compulsory	Primary and Secondary, between ages 6 -16
Primary to secondary transition rate	The overall rate for 2002 indicates 99% NER enrolment in Primary education compared to 91% for Secondary (UNESCO_education)
Female Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) - Tertiary Education as a % for School year ending 2008	94%
Male Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) - Tertiary Education as a % for School year ending 2008	64%
Education expenditure	as % of GDP 6.6 (2008) as % of total government expenditure 19.7 (2006)
Distribution(%) of public expenditure per level (2010)	N/A
Researchers per 1,000,000 inhabitants (FTE) (2007)	4 365
Expenditure on R&D as a % of GDP (2007)	1.21
Percentage distribution of gross domestic expenditure on research and development by source	Business 40.1% Government 42.7% Higher education 8.7% Private non-profit 3.7% From abroad 4.8%

ICT

Telephones - main lines in use (2008)	1.75 million
Telephones - mobile cellular (2008)	1.75 million
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants (2009)	110.16
Broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants (2009)	Fixed 22.9 Mobile 64.24
Telephone system	general assessment: excellent domestic and international systems
International dialling code	+64
Internet domain	.nz
Internet hosts (2010)	2.47 million
Internet users (2008)	3.047 million
Internet users per 100 inhabitants (2009)	79.7
Computers per 100 inhabitants (2009)	80.26
TV sets per 100 people (2008)	46.15

Overview

New Zealand is situated in the island-studded region known as Oceania in the South western Pacific. The country consists of two main islands, North and South, separated by Cook Strait and the smaller Stewart Island and Chatham Islands, plus numerous other smaller islands. Neighbouring countries include Australia to the northwest across the Tasman Sea, and to the north New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Fiji Vanuatu and Tonga. With a total land area of 268,671 sq km, New Zealand is about the combined area of Victoria and Tasmania in Australia and about the size of Colorado in the USA. A small country, it nonetheless is still divided into two time zones—New Zealand standard time (12 hours in advance of UTC) and Chatham Islands time (45 minutes in advance of New Zealand standard time).

Its coastline is over 15,000 km, considerable in relation to its total area. The two main islands are predominately mountainous—75% of the country is higher than 200m above sea level - with large coastal plains, having been shaped by volcanic activity. The Southern Alps contain 360 glaciers and New Zealand's highest mountain, Aoraki Mt Cook (3754 m). As part of the ‘Pacific ring of fire’, volcanic eruptions occur with events in the North Island. The most significant is Ruapehu (elev. 2,797 m, 9,177 ft), which has a history of large eruptions in the past century, most recently 1995, 1996 and 2007, but also offshore on the Kermadec Islands. Taranaki has the potential to produce dangerous avalanches and lahars and other historically active volcanoes are Okataina, Raoul Island, Tongariro, and White Island. Earthquakes are common, though the majority are not severe. New Zealand’s main natural resources are natural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber, hydropower, gold and limestone.

New Zealand is also referred to as Aotearoa, meaning ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’, from the language of the Māori, whose Polynesian ancestors arrived on the islands around 1,000 years ago. Most New Zealanders are of British origin with about 15% claiming Māori descent. There is migration from mainly Pacific island countries, Samoa, Cook Islands and Niue, but also a large number of migrants from Asia and a small amount of migration from other countries. The makeup of the population is European 76.8%; Maori 14.9%; Asian 9.7%; other Polynesian Pacific peoples 7.2%; Middle Eastern, Latin American and African 0.9%. 98% of the people speak English and 4.1% Māori. These are two of the three official languages, New Zealand Sign Language being the third. Other languages spoken include Samoan, French, Hindi, Yue, Northern Chinese. 55.6% of New Zealanders align with the Christian faith and 34.7% claim no religious affiliation. Reflecting its increasingly mixed-origin population, other main religions being practiced by the population are Hindu 1.5%, Buddhist 1.3%, Islam/Muslim 0.8% and Jewish 0.2%. A Māori branch of Christianity, known as Ratana, is practiced by 1.6% of the population.

Nearly 76% of the people, including a large majority of Māori, live on the North Island and almost 90% live in one of the two islands’ cities. Nearly one-third of those living in cities are in Auckland, the largest city. Agriculture is the core of the economy, that being export-driven; however the employment statistics reflect the high percentage of people living in cities: services and government 59%; manufacturing and construction 32%; agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and mining 8.9%. [agriculture: 7% industry: 19% services: 74% (2006 est.)]

Although not official, the Kiwi, a small native flightless bird, represents New Zealand, with New Zealanders referring to themselves as Kiwis.

Brief History

New Zealand is very recently settled. The Māori, of East Polynesian ancestry, were the first inhabitants of New Zealand who arrived in New Zealand around the AD 1250–1300 from Hawaiki. In 1642 Abel Tasman, a Dutch navigator, and his crew, as they searched for the southern continent (Antarctica), sighted the islands that now make up New Zealand. They managed to sketch sections of the west coasts of the two main islands but four crew members were killed and they were driven off by the Māori as they attempted to land. The next known exploration was by British Captain James Cook who made three south Pacific voyages during the years 1768—1771 and thoroughly explored New Zealand’s islands in 1769, mapping almost the entire coastline in the process. He visited the country twice more, in 1773–74 and in 1777.

New Zealand is also commonly known by the Māori name Aotearoa, although it is not certain whether they had referred to the islands as a whole before the arrival of Europeans. They referred to the main islands individually as as Te Ika a Māui (the fish of Māu: North Island) and Te Wai Pounamu (the waters of greenstone) or Te Waka o Aoraki (the canoe of Aoraki: South Island). Abel Tasman had assumed the islands were part of a southern continent connected with land discovered off the southern tip of South American in 1615, called Staten Landt, and so referred to New Zealand. Staten Landt means ‘land of the (Dutch) States-General’. Dutch cartographers named the islands ‘Nova Zeelandia’, derived from the Dutch province of Zeeland, and this first appeared i 1645. New Zealand is the anglicised version coined by Captain Cook.

The Māori population could have been over 100,000 before the first Europeans arrived. Cook’s encounters with the Māori generally peaceful and his reports attracted sealers and traders, some from the new community in Sydney and whalers from America, Britain and France. During the late 18^th and early 19^th century traders brought goods for trade: metal tools and weapons for Māori timber, food, artifacts and water. Settlers also began to arrive early in the 19th century, the first Christian missionaries among them. The possession of muskets transformed local warfare led to the Musket Wars and between 1801 -1840 30,000-40,000 Māori were killed. This, along with diseases like influenza, dysentery and diphtheria being introduced by outside contact, the population declined to about 40% of its previous level. In 1857–58 a census put their numbers at about 56,000. Intermarriage and time have meant an adoption of European ways by the Māori, but they still maintain a distinct cultural difference to the European ‘Kiwi’.

There was a lawless nature to European settlement so the British government sent James Busby as British Resident to New Zealand in 1832 to help bring law and order to the settlement, which he failed to do. In 1835, a group of Māori tribes calling themselves the United Tribes of New Zealand sought protection by sending a Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand to Britain’s King William IV. Eventually the Colonial Office sent Captain William Hobson to New Zealand to claim sovereignty for the British Crown and negotiate a treaty with the Māori. The United Kingdom formally annexed the islands in 1840 and established what they believed to be British sovereignty through the Treaty of Waitangi signed with Maori chiefs in the Bay of Islands on 6 February. Also that year selected groups from the United Kingdom began the colonization process in earnest. The treaty promised to protect Māori land if the Māori recognized British rule. Encroachment by British settlers was relentless, however, and conflicts over land intensified, leading to the ‘New Zealand Wars’, a series of skirmishes on the north island between colonial forces and Maori. There is continued debate over the details of Māori land and European settlement and different interpretations of the Treaty.

The capital of New Zealand moved from Okiato (1840) to Auckland (1841) then to Wellington (resolution 1863, with the first Parliament held there in 1965), a more central location on the north side of the Cook Strait. Wellington is the southernmost national capital in the world.

New Zealand’s settlement process affected it in many ways on the local level but also had a positive impact on its global economy. Transportation had increased by the end of the 19th century, ensuring greater overseas trade. The livestock industry expanded to become a foundation of New Zealand’s modern economy with wool surpassing timber and flax as export commodities. Refrigerated transport supported the export of meat and dairy products, which became staples of the export industry and lead to strong economic growth.

The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 passed by the United Kingdom provided a representative government for the colony. The first New Zealand Parliament met in 1854 and in 1856 was granted government responsibility over domestic matters outside of native policy. Māori won the right to a number of reserved seats in Parliament in 1867. In 1907, New Zealand declared itself a Dominion within the British Empire. While in practise it exercised full autonomy internally and externally from that time, it was not formalised until 1947 by the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act, at which time it became a realm of the Commonwealth and the last restrictions on the right of its parliament to amend its constitution were removed.

New Zealand’s laws during the 1890s were reflective of a very socially advanced state. By the early 20^th century, it was practising its own version of a welfare state. Women gained the vote in 1893, the first in the world only three years after men’s enfranchisement, which was the year of the first general election: 1890. Old-age pensions were adopted in 1898; a national child welfare program was set up by1907; social security was established for the elderly, widows, and orphans, along with family benefit payments; minimum wages were set with a limited 40-hour workweek; unemployment and health insurance, 1938; and socialized medicine was instituted starting 1941.

Governance

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with parliamentary democracy as a system of government. It is an independent member of the Commonwealth. There are three branches of government: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Fulfilling executive functions are head of state, prime minister and a cabinet. The legislative branch is made up of a one-chamber House of Representatives or parliament. The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Courts and District Courts. Local government has powers conferred by parliament. It is made up of 12 regional councils with 74 territorial authorities consisting of 15 city councils, 58 rural district councils and one county council (Chatham Islands). These councils each have a directly elected mayor and council members. Territorial authorities can choose to delegate minor powers to smaller community boards.

Queen Elizabeth II is head of state, represented in New Zealand by a governor-general who has prerogative powers. The Prime Minister is head of government and leads the cabinet, which is the most senior policy-making body in the government. The Queen and governor-general cannot exercise power without the advice of the Cabinet except under certain circumstances. The current governor-general is Sir Jerry Mateparae (since 2011), and the Prime Minister is John Key (since 2008), leader of the National party coalition. Eight political parties of varying sizes make up a coalition government when the main party alone does not have enough seats in Parliament to form a majority.

The governor-general is appointed on advice of New Zealand’s Prime Minister. An executive council, all who must be members of Parliament is appointed by the governor-general on recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is appointed by the governor-general based on party strength and is the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that have majority in Parliament. The Prime Minister appoints members of Parliament to the cabinet. Parliament is summoned, adjourned or dissolved by the governor-general. Parliament now consists of 122 members, with seven sets reserved for Māori, who are elected on a separate roll. Māori may, however, run for non-reserved seats.

Judges in the justice system are appointed by the governor-general. The Chief Justice at present is Dame Sian Elias. The courts interpret common law in uniformity with the common law of the United Kingdom. There are specialised courts, namely employment, family, youth and the Māori Land Court.

At local government level, New Zealand has regional councils that are responsible for environmental management, regional civil defence and transportation planning; they have the power to set their own regional tax rates. Territorial authorities administer roads, sewerage and building consents among other matters. This structure was implemented in 1989. There are 12 regions and territorial authorities include 57 districts and 16 city councils. Members of these councils are directly elected. A few smaller community boards and special-purpose bodies have members are either elected or appointed.

New Zealand has several external dependent areas: the Cook Islands and Niue, which are self-governing but in free association, and Tokelau. It also asserts a territorial claim over the Ross Dependency in Antarctica.

Voting in New Zealand is not compulsory, although enrolment to vote is. Every adult over the age of 18 is entitled to vote. Parliamentary elections are held every three years, although elections can be called earlier. In 1993, the country changed its electoral system from first past the post (FPP) to mixed member proportional (MMP), based on a German model. This is a proportional system in which each voter has an electorate vote, which goes toward the local MP, and a party list vote, which selects a party and determines the total number of seats for each party in parliament. Since this change, New Zealand government has been formed by a coalition of parties. This system is intended to increase the likelihood of minorities to gain a voice in government and to encourage policy-based voting rather than by party.

Education System

The education system in New Zealand is divided into three tiers: pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary education. The one year of pre-school or kindergarten is non-mandatory and privately operated; the six years of primary school, two of intermediate (primary) and five of secondary are provided free to citizens and permanent residents, with 12 years being mandatory. Education up to the calendar year following age 19 is considered a right; for the disabled, this is age 21. Most schools deal either with primary, intermediate or secondary only but in rural areas there are schools that cater for all levels in the same system.

The school year normally begins in January and ends mid-December. Education is now identified by year number, with a total of 15. Students must finish Year 8 of primary school by the end of the school year after they turn 14 yet it is usual for students leaving year 8 to be 12-13 years. Year 13 is considered to be the end of secondary school, but there is a year 14 for those under 19 who continue with secondary school.

Education, including post-compulsory levels, is under regulation by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) which sets and monitors qualifications to a national standard for primary, secondary and vocational education and training.

a) School education

New Zealand has state, private and state-integrated systems. State and state-integrated are government funded. Private schools are government funded up to about 25%, the remainder coming from tuition fees. The state-integrated schools were private schools which have integrated into the state system but retain their original special character. It is estimated that about 86% of school-age children attend state schools, 10% integrated and 4% private. Fewer than 2% of children are home-schooled, this based on proof that the quality is equivalent to the national standard. There is an annual grant allowed for this, which includes Correspondence school services.

Pre-Primary Level

Not all but many children attend some form of pre-school, although this is not mandatory, nor free. The types of pre-schooling available in New Zealand are: Playcentre from birth to school age; Kindergarten, ages 3–5; Kohanga Reo, literally ‘language nests’ that immerse children from birth to school age in Maori language; Licensed Early Childhood Centres, ages 0–5, which are usually privately owned; and chartered Early Childhood Centres, ages 0–5, which are state funded.

Primary Level

Students begin primary level on their 5^th birthday or the first school day following and usually finish by age 12-13. If a 5-year-old starts primary school at the beginning of the year up to a cut off date around 31 March, they start at year 1, if a child reaches 5 after that cut-off date, they start at year 0. Primary schooling ends at year 8, which may include 2 years at an intermediate level.

Secondary Level

Secondary level is up to 5 years, covering Years 9-13 and ages 13-18. Compulsory secondary education ends at year 13. At this stage, students are attempting to qualify for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), a government-run qualification system. The NCEA, involving internal and external assessments, has levels that correspond with each of the last three years of secondary school. A few New Zealand schools allow the option of either the IGCSE/A-levels (‘Cambridge exams’) or an International Baccalaureate Diploma although neither are registered with the NZQA. The IGSCE is sat at Year 11, the A-level in Year 12; these are aimed at internationally-recognised qualifications.

Non-Government Schools

The Ministry of Education lists 86 private schools accredited to teach from pre-school to secondary levels (year 13) in New Zealand. 65% of these are deciles 10 and 99, which indicate the students are from high socio-economic households. From the July 2011 directory of these schools, 28,549 students attend these private schools; of these 73.8% are European/Pākehā (European-descent New Zealanders), 4.7% Māori, 12.1% Asian-New Zealanders, 5.1% international students and 4.2% a total of New Zealand residents of Pasifika origin. At post-secondary level Private Training Educational institutions (PTEs) deliver NZQA-accredited certificate, diploma, degree courses often aimed at employment. Umbrella organisations such as Independent Schools of New Zealand (ISNZ), New Zealand Association of Private Education Providers (NZAPEP) and the Independent Tertiary Institutions (ITI)/Nga Wānanga Motuhake represent the interests of these private institutions.

b) Vocational education and training (VET)

There are 22 polytechnics in New Zealand, many of which now offer degree courses up to post-graduate level and many also involved in research activities. In addition to these 23, there are also three Wānanga, or indigenous public institutions that provide tertiary-level education in the form of certificates, diplomas and Bachelor's degrees as well as some that offer Masters degrees and Doctor of Philosophy diplomas.

Aoraki Polytechnic

Campuses around the central South Island offers courses and programmes at certificate and diploma level in Arts & Design, Beauty & Hairdressing, Business & Tourism, Health & Education, Hospitality, Information Technology, Media, Outdoor Education & Sport, Trades & Agriculture.

Bay Of Plenty Polytechnic

Located in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty, offering short courses, certificates, diplomas, degree programmes and pathways in Applied Sciences; Art, Design & Creative subjects, Business; Computing & Information Technology; Education & Humanities; Health & Beauty; Tourism, Travel & hospitality; and Trades & Technology.

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology

Located in Christchurch, offering courses up to graduate level including Adventure Recreation; Animal Science; Architectural Studies; Art and Design; Automotive Engineering & Autobody; Bakery; Broadcasting; Business, ;Business Administration; Carpentry; Chef Training; CircoArts; Communication; Construction Management; Counselling; Digital Video Post Production; Education; English for Domestic Students and for International Students; Electrical Trades; Electrotechnology & Computer; Engineering, Engineering & Design; Fashion; Fitting; Turning & Toolmaking; Foundation and Pathways to Tertiary Study; Hairdressing; Hospitality Management; ICT; Information Design; International Languages; Interior Design & Décor; Joinery & Furniture Making; Maori Studies; Mathematics and Statistics; Medical Imaging; Mental Health Support; Midwifery; Musical Arts; Music Theatre; Bachelor of Nursing; Certificate in Nursing; Painting; Decorating & Plastering; Photography; Physical Activity; Wellness and Sports Science; Plastics & Polymer; Plumbing; Gasfitting & Drainlaying; Quantity Surveying; Restaurant, Wine and Bar; Science; Social Work; Teacher Training; Travel and Tourism; Welding & Fabrication.

Eastern Institute of Technology

Centred in Napier, offering postgraduate, degree, diploma and certificate level in five faculties: Arts and Social Sciences, Business and Computing, Health and Sport Science, Te Manga Māori, Science and Technology.

Manukau Institute of Technology

Located in Manukau city, offers 1500 full and part time certificate, diploma, degree and post graduate programmes in Engineering, Art and Design, Information Systems, Technology.

Media Design School (New Zealand)

Located in downtown Auckland, offering short courses and undergraduate and graduate courses in 3D Animation, Advanced 3D Productions, Visual Effects, Graphic Design, Digital Creativity, Creative Advertising, Digital Media, Creative Technologies, Game Development and Interactive Gaming.

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology

With campuses in Nelson and Blenheim offering programmes at certificate, diploma or degree level in Arts and Media; Aviation; Business and Computer Technology; Health and Social Sciences; Marine Studies (New Zealand School of Fisheries); Te Tari Māori; Technology and Primary Industries; Tourism, Hospitality and Wellbeing; and the English Language School.

Northtec

Campuses and learning centres in Whangarei city and Kerikeri, Rawene, Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Northtec offers foundation to degree level courses Advanced Trades, Applied Environmental Sciences, Applied Writing, Architectural Technology, Automotive Engineering, Beauty & Hairdressing, Boatbuilding, Business, Civil Engineering, computing, Construction, Digital Media, e-Learning, Electrical engineering, English Language, Fashion, Forestry, Foundation studies, Horticulture & Landscape, Hospitality, Information Systems, massage, Mechanical Engineering, Nursing & Health, Occupational Safety & Health, Social Services, Sport & Recreation, Te Puna o te Matauranga, Tertiary Teaching, Tourism & Travel and Visual Arts.

Otago Polytechnic

Located in Dunedin, qualifications include Certificate, National Certificate, Diploma, National Diploma, Bachelor, Bachelor Honours, Graduate , Diploma/Certificate, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, Masters, Short Courses, Certificate of Personal Interest / Professional Development with courses in Applied Business; Architecture, Building and Engineering; Art; Central Otago; Centre for Sustainable Practice; Design; Educational Development Centre; Foundation Learning; Hospitality; Information Technology; Midwifery; Natural Resources; Nursing; Occupational Therapy; Social Services; Sports Institute and Adventure; Veterinary Nursing.

Royal New Zealand Police College

Training in different areas of New Zealand Police including Armed Offenders Squad, Air Support Observation, Beat and Patrol, CIB, Commercial Vehicle Unit, Child Abuse Team, Community Relations, Cultural Relations, Cultural Liaison, Clan,Lab Unit, Crash Analysis, Calibration Services, Compulsory Breath Testing, Deployments, Dog Handling, Diplomatic Protection Squad, Dive Squad, Disaster Victim Identification, Evaluation Unit, Emergency Response, Financial Intelligence Unit, Forensics, , Family Safety Team, General Duties, Highway Patrol, Human Resources, Interpol, Information and Technology, Inquest, Kaitakawaenga , Liaison (Ethnic Liaison)Licensing , and Vetting, Law Enforcement Team, Legal, Marine Unit, Motorways, National Dive Squad, National Bureau of Criminal Intelligence, Organised Crime Unit, Organisational Performance, Operational Planning, Operational Support, Police Infringement Bureau, Policing Development, Prosecutions, Professional Standards, Road Policing Support Search & Rescue, Special Search Group, Support Observer Unit, Surveillance Squad, Strategic Traffic Unit, Special Tactics Group, Training, Technical Support Unit, Team Policing, Technical Support Services, VIP Protection Squad, Victim Rescue, Victim Recovery, Witness Protection, Youth Education, Youth Aid Section.

Southern Institute Of Technology

Main campus at Invercargill, offers certificate, diploma, Bachelor's degree and post graduate level in Business, Computing, Hospitality & Tourism, New Media & Arts (Journalism, Music, Audio Production, Dramatic Arts, Design & Visual Arts), Nursing, Nanny, English Language, Social Services, Health, Exercise & Recreation, Technology, Construction, Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Hairdressing, Beauty, Pharmacy and more.

Tai Poutini Polytechnic

Located in Greymouth, offering courses in Adult and Community education, Arts & Carving, automotive, Business & Computing, Civil & Mining, Construction, Ecotourism, Emergency Management, First Aid, Foundation, Hair & Beauty, Health, Health & Safety, Hospitality & Tourism, Industrial Access, Industry Management, Mining and Extractive Industries, Music & Audio, nanny, Outdoor Education, Professional Chef, Road Transport & Logistics, rural Studies, Ski Patrol and STAR.

Tairawhiti Polytechnic

Covering the area of Gisborne, Tokomaru Bay, Ruatoria and Napier with degree, diploma or certificate courses in Business Administration & Business Management, Catering & Hospitality, Computing & Information Technology, Early Childhood & Adult Education, Foundation, Health & Sport, Māori Studies, Rural Studies, Social Science, Toihoukura - Māori Visual Arts & Design, Trades with Training Opportunities & Youth Training.

Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre

Main campus is near Masterton with non-residential campuses near Stratford and at Taradale offering certificate and diploma courses in Agriculture, Horticulture, Trades, Fencing, Rural leadership, general farm skills and taster courses to try a variety.

Telford Rural Polytechnic

Rural education in the Otago region offering short courses, correspondence study and STAR courses in Agriculture, Equine, Forestry, Apiculture, Horticulture and Rural Business.

The Open Polytechnic

The Open Polytechnic is the specialist national provider of open and distance learning (ODL) and a major educator of people in the workplace. Our primary functions are to support Government economic and social transformation goals and make a key contribution to business and industry by providing flexible access to vocational learning.

Unitec New Zealand

Four campuses in Auckland, offering certificates, diplomas, degrees and doctorates in professional and vocational areas including Applied Technology & Trades, Architecture & Landscape, Business Studies, Communication Studies, community and Social Practice, Computing and Information Technology, Construction and Civil Engineering, Design & Visual Arts, Education, Foundation Studies, Health, Language Studies, Māori Education, Natural Sciences, Performing and Screen Arts, Sport and Travel & Tourism.

Universal College of Learning

Located in Palmerston North, Whanganui, and Wairarapa offering courses in Administration, Adult Teaching, Aromatherapy, Arts, Automotive, Beauty, Business, Carpentry, Chef Training, Computing, Early Childhood, Electrical, Electrotechnology, Fashion, Foundation programmes, Free & Easy, Furniture Making, Glass, Graphic Design, Hairdressing, Health Science, Hospitality, ICT, Interior Design, Management, Massage, Mechanical Engineering, Medical Imaging, Mental health, Motorsport, Music, Nanny, Nursing, STAR, Performing Arts, Photography, Science, Short Courses, Sport, Tourism & Travel and Veterinary Nursing.

Waiariki Institute Of Technology

Campuses in Rotorua, Taupo offering Diploma, Degree, National Certificates & Diplomas and Graduate Courses in areas including Business Administration, Accounting, IT, Hospitality, Forestry, Nursing, Art and Design, Fashion, Interior Design, Tourism and Travel, Early Childhood Education, Maori Education, Agriculture, Professional Cookery.

Waikato Institute of Technology

Located in the Waikato region offering short, part-time, undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Health & Social Services; Business; Sport & Education; Science & Engineering; Horticulture, Arboriculture, Agriculture & Animal Technology; Automotive, Construction, Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical Engineering & IMC; Information & Communication Technology; Hospitality, Hair, Beauty, Tourism, Events, Fitness, Outdoor Recreation, Massage & Security; Visual Arts, Design, Communication & Music.

Wanganui School of Design

Affiliated with UCOL (above) located in Whanganui, offers a Bachelor of Computer Graphic Design, Level 7.

Wellington Institute of Technology

WELTEC is located at Lower Hutt in Wellington and offers Certificates and Diplomas & Degrees in Animal Health & Husbandry; Automotive Technology; Built Environment; Business Studies; Construction Trades; Counselling and Alcohol & Drug Studies; Creative Technologies; Engineering and Electrical Trades; Engineering Technology; ESOL (English Language); Exercise Science & Recreation; Foundation Courses ; Funeral Services ; Hairdressing, Beauty Therapy & Makeup Artistry; Horticulture & Landscaping; Hospitality; Information Technology; Social Services; Teaching & Training and Tourism.

Whitireia Community Polytechnic

Locations in Porirua, Lindale, Wellington and Auckland offering courses in Automotive; Aviation; Beauty, Hairdressing & Cosmetic Services; Building Trades; Business & Management; Creative Writing; English Language; Foundation Education; Horticulture and Floristry; Hospitality & Professional Cookery; Information Technology; Journalism; Maori Art; Maori Nursing; Music; Nursing; Office Administration & Computing; Outdoor Adventure & Tourism; Pacific Nursing; Paramedics; Performing Arts; Photography; Postgraduate Nursing; Publishing; Retail & First Line Management; Social & Community Work; Te Reo Maori; Teaching; Transport; Visual Arts & Design; Waka Ama; Whitireia Performing Arts Centre and Youth Programmes.

Wānanga

Te Wananga O Aotearoa (Māori for the University of New Zealand)

In over 80 locations throughout the country Aotearoa offers certificate to degree level qualifications to all ages. Polytechnic courses in Foundation studies, Maori studies, Humanities, Arts, and Computing and Business. Guided by Māori principles and values.

Awanuiarangi Main Campus in Whakatane

Undergraduate and graduate studies in Education, Environmental Studies, Health Sciences, Humanities, Matauranga Maori, Bridging courses – Aka ki te Wananga - Tamaki, MAI ki Awanuiarangi, Indigenous Studies, Maori Studies, MATAHIHIKO, Seafood māori, Te Awa Reo, Te Awa Tuapapa

Raukawa

Located in Otaki offering courses from certificate through to Masters level in Administration & Management; Entrepreneurial Development, Māori Design and Art, Hapū Development, Environmental Studies, Health, Multimedia, Information management, Mātauranga Māori, Literary Performing Arts, Māori Laws and Philosophy, NGA Akonga o Te Reo Māori, Computing, Social work and Teaching.

Colleges of Education

The main teacher’s training colleges, as these were previously known, have merged with universities in their areas by now but still retain the name ‘Colleges of Education’. There is a college of Education attached to the universities in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin (Otago). Any privately owned teacher training institution not attached to a university cannot be known as a College of Education as this term is protected by Act of Parliament.

c) Higher education

Pre-Tertiary and Tertiary Education

Post-secondary education in New Zealand is provided by a range of institutions including Private Training Establishments, Colleges of Education (Teachers College), Polytechnics and Universities. There are three indigenous tertiary institutions throughout New Zealand known as Open Polytechnics that offer certificates, diplomas and Bachelor's degrees as well as Master's degrees and a Doctor of Philosophy diploma.

Private Training Establishments

There are numerous PTEs in New Zealand and provide NZQA-accredited courses with some offering certificates, diplomas and degrees. They provide different training from public intuitions’, often employment-oriented, in a quick time frame and a supportive environment. Tutors of these institutions are normally from industry rather than academia. There are many language training institutions in this category.

Universities

There are eight government-funded universities in New Zealand. Universities main term times are from early February until mid-November. Entrance to university is considered ‘open’ with University Entrance (UE), based on NCEA results, giving entrance to New Zealand universities. Students over the age of 20 do not normally need to meet academic entrance criteria to be enrolled in university. University is on a user-pay basis but are subsidised by the government.

The University of Otago

The University of Otago in Dunedin was established in 1869 and is considered to be the oldest university in the country. It has about 20,000 students, offering postgraduate & undergraduate degrees, diplomas & certificates and short courses in continuing education. It is based on a 2-semester system running from February to November with summer school programmes offered from January -February. It is divided into four academic divisions, the Schools of Business, Health Sciences, Humanities and a Division of Sciences. Many of its courses are available via distance learning. It has health sciences campuses in Christchurch and Wellington, a centre in Auckland and a College of Education in Invercargill. It claims to be New Zealand’s most research-intensive university.

The University of Canterbury

In Christchurch was established in 1873. It uses a 2-semester system running from February–November with a summer school programme from November–February. It’s qualifications include preparatory; undergraduate bachelors, certificates and diplomas; graduate certificates and diplomas; and postgraduate diplomas and degrees. Academic departments and schools include Accounting & Information Systems; Biological Sciences; Chemical and process Engineering; Chemistry; Civil and Natural Resources Engineering; Communication Disorders; Computer Science and Software Engineering; Economics and Finance; Educational Studies & Human Development; Electrical & Computer Engineering; Fine Arts, Music and Theatre; forestry; Geography; Geological Sciences; Humanities; Law; languages, Cultures & Linguistics; Literacies & Arts in Education; Management; Māori and Indigenous Studies; Māori, Social & Cultural Studies in Education; Mathematics & Statistics; Mechanical Engineering; Physics & Astronomy; Psychology; Sciences & physical Education; Social & Political Sciences; and Social Work & Human Services. Canterbury had 22,001 students in 2010.

The University of Auckland

In central Auckland, since 1883, where it has established itself as The City Campus. The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s largest university with 39,940 students in 2009. Teaching and research is conducted over eight faculties, a School of Theology and two large-scale research institutes; included in these are the Faculties of Arts, Education, Engineering, Law, Medical & Health Sciences; Science; the Business School; National Institute of Creative Arts & Industries; Liggins Institute and the Auckland Bioengineering Institute. Based on a 2-semester system its courses run from February–October with summer school from January–February. It offers community education and short courses for business and professional people.

Auckland University of Technology

Is the youngest University in New Zealand. It was founded in the 2000 based on previous incarnations as a technical school: 1895 - Auckland Technical School, 1913 - Seddon Memorial Technical College, 1963 - Auckland Technical Institute and 1989 - Auckland Institute of Technology. It’s has over 25,000 students enrolled in its courses. Offers diplomas and certificates, undergraduate and postgraduate diplomas, certificates and degrees in Arts & Design, Business, Communications, Computing & Mathematical sciences, Creative Technologies, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Hospitality & Tourism, languages & Social Sciences, Law, Sciences, Sport & Recreation and Te Ara Poutama—Māori Development. Based on a 2-semester system, its courses run from February – November. It also offers short courses in Computing, Engineering, Health, Hospitality, Language, Māori Development, Nutrition, Science and Sport & Fitness and a full range of summer school courses.

Victoria University of Wellington

Was founded in 1897, the Year of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebration and named in her hounour. Spread across four campuses in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, with a student enrolment of 22,270 in 2009. It is based on a 3-trimester system, the 1st and 2nd trimesters held from February – November and the 3rd during the summer months of November - February. It has eight faculties; these are the faculties of Architecture & Design, Commerce & Administration, Education, Engineering, Graduate Research, Humanities & Social Sciences; Law and Science, and Toihuarewa, a separate pan-University faculty equivalent. Qualifications include university preparation, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and incorporates distance learning programmes. Victoria offers Conjoint undergraduate degrees.

Massey University

With a main campus in Palmerston North and smaller campuses in Auckland and Wellington, was established in 1927 as an agricultural college. It has the highest number of extramural students of all New Zealand universities. It has over 35,000 internal and extramural students. Based on a 2-semester system and summer school, it’s semesters run from February - November and summer school from November – February. Programmes offered are certificates, diplomas and both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and Conjoint Bachelor degrees. Teaching and research departments are divided into five colleges: Business, Creative Arts, Education, Humanities & Social Sciences and Sciences with 30 institutes, schools, departments and centres Massey is the only university in New Zealand with a Veterinary Science programme and to offer a Bachelor of Aviation degree.

The University of Waikato

Was established in Hamilton in 1964. It has a yearly student population of about 13,000. Qualifications at Waikato include pathways to university; research; or higher, degree; Undergraduate (including conjoint) degrees; and Postgraduate Study through its Faculties: Arts & Social Sciences, Computing & Mathematical Sciences, Education, Law, Science & Engineering and its Schools: Māori and Pacific Development and Management. Waikato is based on a 2-semester system with classes beginning in early March and going through November and 2 summer schools, one from early November – mid-December, the second from the beginning of January – mid-February.

Lincoln University

Located outside of Christchurch at Lincoln. It was established as a university in 1990 but its origins were as a Canterbury Agricultural College from 1896. In 1878 it had been set up as a school of agriculture that was aligned to Canterbury College. As the smallest University in New Zealand, Lincoln has about 4500 annually. Its teaching year is based on a 2-semester system running from the end of February – the end of October and offering summer school from mid-January – the end of February. Qualifications offered are pre-university study; undergraduate certificates, diplomas and degrees; and postgraduate study; Lincoln also offers an Executive Development programme. It has three faculties: Agriculture & Life Sciences; commerce; and Environment, Society & Design.

Overview of Distance Education

New Zealand has a long history of distance education. New Zealand's correspondence school was established as long ago as 1922. However, as in Australia, the development of the DE accelerated after World War. The Technical Correspondence School was opened in 1946, providing resettlement training for returned servicemen and women. The School became the Technical Correspondence Institute (TCI) in 1963 and began offering national training in trades subjects. In 1960, the Massey University of Manawatu (now Massey University) began its extramural studies program. By 1985, the University of Otago followed, offering its first distance course in that year. Over the last quarter century, New Zealand has emerged as a significant provider of distance courses in Asia and the Pacific.

The leading provider of distance education at the secondary level is the Correspondence School - Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu. The School provides distance education from early childhood level to Year 13. Courses are offered to school-aged students, young adults and adult learners. It prepares students for qualifications level courses in Year 11, and offers a wide range of subject that earn credits towards the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), the National Certificate in Mathematics and the National Certificate in Computing. In addition to students within New Zealand, the School provides courses to students living anywhere in the world. The Correspondence School has more than 24,000 students studying full or part-time.

There is also growing use of video-conferencing in rural secondary schools to provide distance education courses in specialised subjects (see below).

New Zealand hosts a thriving TVET sector delivering courses by correspondence or online learning. There are a large number of small-scale providers largely operating outside the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) framework. These include both locally-sourced courses and overseas programs. There are also a smaller number of larger established private TVET providers which offer certificate and diploma level qualifications within the NZQA framework. There are also an increasing number of distance education courses provided by public sector providers: institutes of technology, polytechnics and wānanga.

The largest single private provider of TVET through distance education is the Pacific Education Institute (PEI). The Institute providers courses in culinary arts, food and beverage service, business administration, small business management, MYOB, computing and TESOL to 2,000 distance students. PEI courses are available to students across New Zealand and overseas. The Institute offers a number of diploma level courses recognised under the NZQA framework.

The major public provider of TVET and sole specialist distance education provider in New Zealand is the Open Polytechnic. The Open Polytechnic offers a range of qualifications from certificate to degree level. There are seven levels of training: Levels 1 to 4 are equivalent to senior secondary school and basic trades training, while Level 5 to 7 are the same as university study. Subjects available include: agriculture and horticulture; art and design; business; community; construction, trades and engineering; education; environment; humanities and the arts; IT and computing; law and legal studies; library and information science; mathematics; psychology and health; real estate; and work and study skills. Degrees are offered in business, early childhood education, engineering technology, the arts and applied science. At present, the Open Polytechnic teaches largely through online enhanced distance education, with some blended course delivery. The Open Polytechnic’s online environment is called the Online Campus and also, more recently, has created a My Open Polytechnic student portal. The Open Polytechnic has over 41,000 students, who live across New Zealand and in over 40 countries overseas.

The two additional distance education providers in the higher education sector are Massey University and the University of Otago.

Massey University provides over 150 programs in a range of areas including business, psychology, social work, communications, education, English, languages, health and sports, and the fine arts. Qualifications available by distance include undergraduate certificate, diploma and bachelor level program, as well as postgraduate diploma, master and doctoral courses. Many Massey courses are now supported or enhanced by e-learning through Stream, the University’s online learning environment. Stream includes features such as discussion boards, online quizzes, a calendar and wikis. Every year, around 20,000 students from New Zealand and overseas, learn at a distance through Massey University.

The University of Otago offers distance education courses through three Divisions: the Division of Humanities, the Division of Sciences and the Division of Human Sciences. Most distance programs range from certificate level courses to diploma, degree, postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma and masters level programs. There is also a Doctor of Education available. Although distance programs are available in a range of disciplines, the majority of courses are in health sciences and related fields. Otago provides distance education tuition in different modes. The use of printed study materials is being phased out and access is increasingly through CD-ROM, DVD or the Web. The University of Otago has about 2000 distance students enrolled in over 300 programs.

Administration and Finance

Despite being a relatively small country, New Zealand‘s governance, steering and planning structure is relatively complex. The main agencies are the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and Career Services Rapuara. TEC, NZQA and Career Services are Crown Agencies with their boards appointed by the Minister.

TEC is a combined policy implementation agency, involved in institutional capacity building, overall policy advice, and allocation of government funding. It also negotiates charters and profiles with the institutions.

NZQA provides overarching quality assurance, administers the national qualifications framework (Register of Quality Assured Qualifications), registers private providers and evaluates overseas qualifications.

The rationale for funding tertiary education rests on two main principles. Reflecting the public and private benefits of tertiary education, the costs of tertiary education activities are shared between the users and the State. Part of the funding is provided by the government to both institutions and students and part by students and their families. The extent to which tertiary education is publicly subsidised depends on the relevance of activities, the extent to which they bring benefits to society.

Higher Education Reforms

The New Zealand Government has established a number of goals for tertiary education over the three to five years. These goals include increasing:

the number of young people (aged under 25) achieving qualifications at university level.
the number of Mäori and Pasifika students enjoying success at higher levels.
the number of young people moving successfully from school into tertiary education.

In order to achieve these aims, the Government is committed to improving sector performance through a range of mechanisms.

Among these is a quality improvement focus. Greater emphasis will be placed on continuous improvement in institutions. The Government has indicated that it will link funding more closely to performance in areas such as completion rates, student attrition and academic outcomes. Institutions are under growing pressure to strengthen collaboration and share resources in the interest of greater efficiency. In addition, the Government is committed to strengthening research outcomes through the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF). As part of this process, bibliometric measures will be used to benchmark the research output of New Zealand universities against the Australian counterparts.

Future Direction of Tertiary Education

Demographic factors and government policies are expected to drive the expansion of the tertiary sector during the next few years. More young people are leaving schools with the expectation of entering university study, increasing the local demand for places in higher education. The Government is also working to increase the attractiveness of New Zealand universities to overseas students and to export education services. The Government aims to achieve this aims through increased promotion, greater quality control and negotiated reductions in institutional barriers to the international trade in education.

Information and Communications Technology Initiatives

a) Information society strategy

The New Zealand Government’s Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) and Rural Broadband Initiatives (RBI) are expected to transform the possibilities for e-learning in New Zealand schools over the next five years. Under the UFB and RBI, a network of fibre optic cables is being rolled out across New Zealand. By 2016, 97% of New Zealand schools will have access to ultra-fast broadband. Those remaining 3% of schools in areas too remote for fibre optic connections will receive improved broadband services using satellite-based links or alternative technologies.

In order to prepare New Zealand schools for improved broadband access, the New Zealand Government has put in place a number of programs. Once of these is the School Network Upgrade Project (SNUP). This project involves progressively upgrading internal data and electrical infrastructure in state and state-integrated schools. By October 2010, 505 schools have been upgraded. In addition, the teaching staff of 60% of New Zealand schools have completed the Information and Communications Technology Professional Development (ICT PD) program. The aim of this program is to build the e-learning capacity of New Zealand teachers.

b) Major e-learning initiatives

For more than a decade, rural secondary schools in New Zealand have explored the use of video conferencing as a means of expanding the course options available to their students. This development has involved the creation of local e-learning communities or clusters which serve a number of local schools. By 2007, there were 15 e-learning communities operating across New Zealand. These communities participated in video conferencing through the Virtual Learning Network (VLN).

The use of the VLN has continued to grow in recent years. In 2009, there were 252 schools and 154 e-teachers participating in the VLN. There were 1401 student enrolments and 212 classes. Schools which contribute classes to the national VLN are able to access other classes from that network for their own students. The results of these initiatives have been extremely successful. The availability of distance learning through video conferencing has widened the subject choices available to students in small senior schools. In many cases, this has led to the retention of students who might have otherwise left their home districts to study elsewhere. In addition, the initiative has led to improved teacher retention, as teachers remain in smaller rural schools because they are able to teach in their area of subject expertise.

c) Benchmarking e-learning

New Zealand has developed its own e-learning benchmarking model. This is the E-Learning Maturity Model (eMM), which can be used to assess the capability of e-learning at an institutional level. eMM has been trialled at universities in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Version 1 of eMM was released in 2003. The current version eMM is eMM V2. eMM and its associated documentation has been released under a Creative Commons Attritbution-Share Alike licence. Development of the eMM in New Zealand was supported by the Ministry of Education’s Tertiary E-Learning Research Fund.

After a large amount of government-funded activity in 2004-2005, where nine institutions were benchmarked (six universities and three polytechnics), up to summer 2007, there did not seem to be an externally-funded benchmarking programme oriented to New Zealand tertiary institutions.

d) Support for OER

There is extensive support for OER within the New Zealand school sector. WikiEducator has an OER Resource Portal for New Zealand schools. Many dozens of individual schools have their own OER portals linked to the WikiEducator site.

The New Zealand OER Project is responsible for the creation and maintenance of Repository.ac.nz, an online portal for OER resources for the New Zealand tertiary sector. This site was initially funded through the New Zealand's Tertiary Education Commission's Innovation Development Fund (eCDF) but now relies on alternative funding.

The New Zealand Open Source Virtual Learning Environment (NZOSVLE) Project is a consortium-based project, involving twenty higher education institutions, with NZ Government funding focused on developing open source application software for education. The project team adopts, adapts and contributes back code to selected open source communities, currently with a specific focus on Moodle, ELGG and EPrints.

The goal of the Open Access Repositories in New Zealand (OARINZ) project was to implement a national network of open access repositories for publicly funded research and teaching repositories. This was to ensure New Zealand research institutions had the necessary infrastructure and know-how to enable them to join with the global research community to establish a network of Institutional Repositories, into which authors deposit copies of their research outputs. By putting research outputs in a repository, authors will enhance the visibility and impact not just of their research, but that of the whole New Zealand research sector.

e) Government entities

Ministry of Education

New Zealand Qualifications Authority

Ministry of Research, Science and Technology

Foundation for Research, Science and Technology

Ministry of Economic Development

Department of Labour

Ministry of Social Development

Tertiary Education Commission (TEC)

f) Associations and networks

Australasian Association of Distance Education Schools (AADES)

Australasian Council on Open, Distance and E-Learning (ACODE)

Distance Education Association of New Zealand (DEANZ)

Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics of New Zealand (ITP New Zealand)

New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE)

Universities New Zealand

g) Distance Education journals

Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning

Distance Education

Distant Education in New Zealand and Australia

Journal of Distance Learning

Interesting Distance Education Initiatives

The Open Wānanga is part of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. Open Wānanga is a leader in the field of adult and community education delivered through distance education to Māori people throughout New Zealand. DE programs deliverd by the Open Wānanga include Mahi Ora Mauri Ora, Papa Ako and Papa Whairawa. Mahi Ora is a 12 month, home-based learning course leading to a Certificate in Employment Skills. The Mauri Ora program is a 12 month course on Maori practices, protocols and New Zealand history and leds to the National Certificate in Maori (Level 2) Papa Ako is a nine month home-based “learning to learn” program for students returning to study or who intend to entre tertiary training for the first time. The Papa Ako program is delivered using CDs, DVDs and ongoing support. The program leads to a Learning to Learn Certificate (Level 1). Papa Whairawa is a nine month, home based, supported financial literacy programme. Students enrolled in Papa Whairawa learn at their own pace and receive teaching kits consisting of CDs, DVDs and printed materials. The program leads to a Papa Whairawa Certificate (Level 1). Over 85,000 students have studied with Open Wānanga since 2000.

In 2005, the Ministry of Education launched the LAMS (Learning Activity Management System) in New Zealand. LAMS is an easy-to-use e-learning environment developed by Macquarie University. In order to make LAMS more suitable for Māori students and teachers, a bilingual interface has been developed under the Te Māori Project. This bilingual interface has been trialled at Kura Kaupapa Māori (Māori-language immersion schools) in the Whanganui, Ruapehu, Taranaki and Wellington regions. The results have been impressive, as teacher and students have taken to the new bilingual online medium. It has proven an effective way of motivating and engaging students. Although innovative and successful, the project raises a number of sustainability issues. At present, the project places great demands on the enthusiasm, time and skills of a small number of Māori teachers. Without long term support, the task of building innovation in online learning at the Kura Kaupapa Māori will be a difficult one.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance at the school level rests with the Education Review Office within the Ministry of Education. The Education Review Office reviews and reports on the quality of education in all New Zealand schools and early childhood education services.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is responsible for quality assurance at private training establishments (PTEs), institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) and wānanga (Mäori tertiary institutes). The NZQA approves and registers all courses and national qualifications offered by these bodies. The NZQA also oversees and administers qualifications at the secondary school level.

NZQA registers and monitors all national qualifications on the National Qualifications Framework; runs national senior secondary school examinations; registers and monitors private providers of education and training to ensure they meet quality standards; and administers a qualifications recognition service for overseas people wanting to live, work or study in New Zealand.

Universities in New Zealand are largely self-regulating. The body responsible for quality assurance in is Universities New Zealand – Te Pōkai Tara, an organisation made up of the eight New Zealand universities represented by their Vice-Chancellors. Universities New Zealand administers quality assurance through two agencies: the Committee on University Academic Programs (CUAP) and the New Zealand Universities Academic Audit Unit (UZUAAU).

CUAP is responsible for approving substantial changes to existing university qualifications or new qualifications. The CUAP operates a graduating year review process in which universities report on the outcomes of the first cohort to pass through any new qualification.

UZUAAU is an independent body established by Universities New Zealand. NZUAAU conducts institutional-level audits on New Zealand universities. This audit process begins with an institutional self-review. The findings of the self-review are addressed by the NZUAAU audit panel. The audit panel then works with the institution to develop plans for future improvement.

Regulatory and Policy Framework

The main instruments are the TES, operationalised in the three-yearly Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities and the institutional charters and profiles—charters contain the institution’s mission and role in the system, whilst the profile is the more detailed operation of this in terms of strategic direction, activities, policies and performance targets—that all operate within the context of an integrated funding framework.

a) International regulatory and policy frameworks

None identified.

b) Regional agreements

None identified.

c) National regulations and policy

Successive New Zealand Governments have preferred to legislate in the field of education through amendments to theEducation Act (1989)rather than through independent Acts.

Education Act 1989

Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015

Statement of intent 2010-2015

d) State/District regulations and policy

Not applicable.

e) University policies

The tertiary sector as a whole is expected to come under growing pressure to improve outcomes in both teaching and research. These pressures are expected to transform institutional policies at all levels. There is likely to be greater emphasis on public accountability and a renewed emphasis on managerialism.