Polytech merger mess 'just gets messier', National's Penny Simmonds

Polytech merger mess 'just gets messier', National's Penny Simmonds
Former polytech boss-turned-National party tertiary education spokesperson, Penny Simmonds. (Image: supplied)
Pattrick Smellie
Consultations with staff on who will and won’t have jobs when the country’s state-run polytechs merge on Jan 1 next year have been postponed as a new acting head for the troubled reforms does an urgent “reset” to stem mounting projected deficits.In a note to staff of all 16 polytechs involved in the merger, acting chief executive Peter Winder overturned a July 1 announcement of staff consultations on the merged entity, Te Pūkenga’s, operating model that was to have started in a week.“We have now decided to po...

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