A major announcement regarding the future of New Zealand's polytechnics is expected Wednesday afternoon. Proposals to reform the "broken" polytechnics and institutes of technology (ITPs) will be announced at parliament on Wednesday afternoon. Asked whether all regions would retain access to tertiary education, Hipkins said regions with skills shortages needed more vocational courses. "Under the previous Government, vocational education was allowed to drift," he claimed. The number of domestic students training at polytechnics and other training institutes fell by more than 23,000 between 2011 and 2017, according to Ministry of Education figures.

Source: Stuff February 12, 2019 02:15 UTC