All of Te Pukenga’s polytechnic regions, including Otago, recorded an operating deficit last year as the embattled mega-polytechnic prepares to break up.
And Otago Polytechnic’s future, after the breakup, remains unclear.
Te Pukenga’s annual report, released yesterday, showed for the year ending December 2023 the institution recorded an operating deficit of $37.8 million against a budgeted deficit of $93m.
Figures provided to the Otago Daily Times showed that the former Otago Polytechnic division recorded a deficit of $10.6m last year.
"Otago Polytechnic’s 2023 deficit was primarily caused by a large drop in government funding of $5.9m due to the change to the unified funding system", a spokeswoman said.
"It is important to note that given Te Pukenga operated as a single entity in the 2023 year; the Otago Polytechnic division’s financial position does not include all revenue and all expenses as some of these were shared across the network."
All of the other former polytechnic regions also recorded operating deficits for the year ending 2023, she said.
The previous government merged the country’s 16 institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) and nine industry training organisations (ITOs) to create Te Pukenga.
Tertiary Education Minister Penny Simmonds has signalled a return to a regional-based model.
Former Otago Polytechnic chief executive Phil Ker said it was difficult to tell exactly how well the Otago region was faring, as the funding regimes and arrangements were different from when it previously existed as a stand-alone polytechnic.
"The financial results aren’t actually super-clear; there appears to be a lot of shuffling of the deckchairs."
Mr Ker said with the shift in government funding away from polytechnics and towards work-based learning, the polytechnics were "bound to be significantly down on their revenue".
"It will be up to each institution to demonstrate they are viable, but until we get the information about the funding structure, we're being fed figures that make no sense."
In the annual report, Te Pukenga chief executive Gus Gilmore said it had been a challenging year for the institution.
"Looking back on the year 2023, our kaimahi [staff] can be proud that we have delivered exceptional vocational education with good outcomes for our learners and employers, and significantly improved our financial performance during a time of immense change and ongoing uncertainty."
When revaluation of land and buildings are taken into account, the year-end result is in fact a $35.6m surplus.
But the story for the ITPs division was not rosy, recording a deficit of $186.3m.
The ITOs division had a surplus of $112.4m, while the national office had $35.5m.
Tertiary Education Union secretary Daniel Benson-Guiu said the figures for Te Pukenga suggested that after years of upheaval, it was finally bedding in the changes.
"My understanding is that Te Pukenga has recorded a surplus for 2024 so far.
"If that is the case, then the upcoming changes will cause further disruption at a time when staff would want stability."
The report said there were 8437 fulltime equivalent staff across the network (compared to 9082 in 2022) and 236,819 students, which included 105,103 trades and apprentices.
The report also mentioned for the present year-to-date, the institution recorded a surplus of $28.5m.
