During an SIT council meeting yesterday, New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology establishment board chairman Barry Jordan addressed concerns about the future of the southern institute’s reserves.
He said all assets would be "ring-fenced" from April 1 when the NZIST starts to operate officially, but
admitted the legislation did not make that clear.
"It doesn't say crystal clear. But from a practical point of view we have no intention to move any assets from subsidiaries in a horizontal or vertical way. [The assets] stay in the region."
Concerns were raised after SIT chief financial officer Daryl Haggerty presented the institute’s finance statement for the end of last year.
The document said the SIT had a cash reserve of $39.8million in December 2019.
During the meeting, SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds said it had 96 Chinese students who were affected by the travel ban the Government had imposed in response to Covid-19.
The outbreak would have a longer impact than expected, she said.
"Last year, 40% of our international students were from China ... The longer it goes on, it can hit next year [numbers] as well."
The institute was pushing a focus on distance learning — so if something similar happened, it would be prepared and able to offer the service.
It would also explore other markets in the Americas and Russia, she said.
The last SIT council meeting will be held on March 23.
