My name is Chris Adam and I am a student at Computer Power Institute in Wellington. I am 5 months into a Diploma in Network Engineering Level 6.
On Tuesday the 20th of March, the staff handed out a sheet of paper containing some information from NZQA. It basically told us that PricewaterhouseCoopers had been appointed as the liquidators for our school and that negotiations were underway to resolve the issue. A copy of the letter as well as a statement from PwC can be found here. No further information was available from the staff (who were just as puzzled as us students), the NZQA, or PwC. The next day, there was a story (link here) in the Dominion Post which was able to shed a little bit more light on the circumstances. Basically, Computer Power (New Zealand) Limited owed the IRD $8,345,422 in tax, penalties and interest. The IRD had offered the company the chance to pay $3m to settle the debt. As a result of this, the students and staff are the ones who will be paying the penalty if nothing can be done to sort this out.
What makes learning at Computer Power so unique is the model that is used to educate us. First off, it is set up like a workplace. There are three shifts and students are able to choose the shift which suits them. There are no fixed semesters so we get public and statutory holidays as well as 100 hours of leave for which we need to apply through the staff. There is also a dress code policy. The lessons /modules are self paced and largely self taught with staff on hand to help with any queries. There are also facilitated workshops and projects. They (CPI) also give us field site training where we go out into the workplace and complete 100 hours with various IT companies.
To top it off, CPI have a full time Placement Consultant who works with the students to help them get into a paid position on completion of their studies. The courses that are offered are based around what is required by the industry and because they are broken down into small modules, they are easily adaptable to the ever changing IT job market. It is for these reasons that I, and many of the other 750 students (including 150 international students) choose to study at CPI instead of through traditional providers.
I have created a Facebook page where students, staff and everyone who thinks that this type of education provider should be saved can go and show their support. What I am asking of you is to go to the page here, and support us by liking the page and maybe leaving a comment. I would also appreciate any comments or feedback here on Geekzone.
I apologise for this post being so long but I want to make sure that everyone understands what is happening and is well informed.
Sincerely,
Chris Adam
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