The Polytech semester draws to a close for the last time, as we know it, this Friday. It is also just six weeks until the new, single-entity mega polytech is due to launch.
Te Pūkenga, New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology mega-structure, will bring more than 16 individual polytechnics under the one umbrella, with 260-thousand students, and 13-thousand staff around across the country.
Key management staff are being sought, eight of them, at salaries between 200 and 300 thousand each, according to Seek, while budget cuts have the union calling for a government bail-out of the sector.
So how ready is the new entity and what experience should students and staff anticipate? Kathryn speaks with Education Minister Chris Hipkins.