Te Pūkenga has been forced to back down on nursing curriculum changes after criticism that the nursing community was disrespected and not listened to, National’s Tertiary Education spokesperson Penny Simmonds says.

“Nursing tutors and the nursing community were provided just 11 days to review and comment on proposed changes to Te Pūkenga’s consolidated Bachelor of Nursing Degree.

“The Tertiary Education Union described this as a ‘sham consultation’ and launched a petition against the changes, saying they were rushed and lacked essential curriculum detail.

“We now understand that the under-fire mega-polytechnic has backed down on rushing through its changes.

“This turmoil is incredibly disappointing, especially when New Zealand is desperately short of nurses and social workers.

"This comes hot on the heels of a damning report from the Tertiary Education Commission to the Education Minister about Te Pūkenga’s financial failure.

“Sector leaders were told that Te Pūkenga's operating model could lead to 600 redundancies, and staff were informed this week that consultation on Te Pūkenga’s proposed new operating model, which should already be underway, has been postponed while the organisation’s $110 million-plus deficit was sorted out.

“Meanwhile, chief executive Stephen Town has taken indefinite personal leave, and $200 million has already been spent on head office bureaucrats and set-up costs.

“At a time when New Zealand has critical labour shortages, our major vocational training sector is in dire straits because Chris Hipkins didn’t listen to warnings that his centralised mega-polytechnic was not the right model and was fundamentally flawed from the start.

“The Government has spent $200 million on Te Pūkenga and only made the New Zealand vocational education sector worse than before.”