Another school year looms. Yet, as Shane Gilchrist discovers, education isn't limited to the young.
As the sun filters through the large ground-floor windows of Otago Polytechnic's H Block, illuminating the institution's communal ''Hub'', clusters of students, young and older, alight on various pieces of furniture as lint might on a capping gown.
Amid the genial hubbub created by a group of women seemingly catching up for the first time this year, Dean Huakau offers a softly spoken contrast.
He's a little wary of being interviewed, is not sure how he'll come across; nevertheless, he's proud of his achievements within this educational facility.
And he has a modest message for others: ''If I can change, I think other mature people can do the same.''
The 48-year-old is referring not only to the fact he graduated with a bachelor of information technology degree last year, but to the process of internal self-assessment that came with more than a few challenges.
Having spent 25 years in the fishing industry, largely on deep-sea vessels, typically working six weeks on, six weeks off, Huakau's desire for change was precipitated by a combination of a back injury, disillusionment and boredom.
Off work for six months, he was offered his old job but turned it down.
''I thought, 'no, it's time to go back to school'.
''That would have been in 2011. I started at polytech in 2012 and did a year-long certificate because I hadn't got university entrance. It proved I was able to study at that level and I went on to complete a three-year bachelor of IT.''
Fascinated by computers (''It has always been a sideline ...''), Huakau is looking at either doing a postgraduate diploma in information technology at Otago Polytechnic or getting a relevant job at the University of Otago.
''It's a massive industry and there are so many ways you can go. I want to work sitting down and I want to use my brain.
''At the end of the day, I don't want to be an old labourer. I want to have some skills.''
Nicola Mutch, marketing and communications manager at Otago Polytechnic, notes older students are motivated by differing factors.
That said, to some extent they can be clustered into groups, including: ''second-start students'' (people who may have been working, travelling or unemployed); ''rediscoverers'' (typically slightly older than second-starters, these students may be looking for a qualification in an industry they already have a connection with, or to make a significant life change); and ''expertise-adding'' (those with significant career experience who are looking at graduate and postgraduate studies).
Others may lack formal qualifications but, through their careers and lives, have gained a huge amount of experience.
This group is catered for via Otago Polytechnic's Capable New Zealand programme, in which prior learning can be credited towards a formal qualification (for more, see sidebar).
Notwithstanding the rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), many of which are free (more on those later), the landscape for adult education has changed significantly in recent years.
In its 2009 budget, the Government cut 80% of funding for Community Learning Association Through Schools (CLASS), the reduction from $16million to $3million part of its Tertiary Education Strategy (2010-2015).
Jane Johnson, principal of Logan Park High School, describes the move as ''regrettable''.
''Like many other Dunedin co-ed secondary schools with a paid ACE co-ordinator and assistant co-ordinator and around 40-50 paid tutors, we really noticed how quiet the school was on many evenings when government funding disappeared.
''When we tallied up the number of students attending evening classes at Logan Park, there were around 750, larger than the total number of students on our day roll. This was about 10 years ago from my recollection,'' Johnson says, adding the scenario was similar at other Dunedin high schools offering evening classes.
''NCEA evening classes finished around 2012, when the Government stopped subsidising all of the recreational and leisure courses. There was still funding for restricted NCEA courses, but because few trained and qualified teachers opted to take courses in the evenings, as well as work during the day, the NCEA classes disappeared.''
Johnson says adult education is now catered for mainly through university and polytechnic, including foundation courses, as well as organisations such as Dunedin Community College, Salvation Army Training Centre and the Dunedin Training Centre.
The Government's decision on community education funding impacted the entire tertiary sector, according to Mutch.
Certainly, figures supplied by Otago Polytechnic reveal a decline in older students attending its courses.
In 2005, there were 8400 students over the age of 30 attending a range of courses (including short and night classes); in 2015, those over 30 totalled 1882.
''The higher numbers of mature students back in 2005 reflects the levels of funding that was available for community education at that time, which has since ceased,'' Mutch says.
''Previously it had enabled a wider range of short and night courses, and initiatives such as Computing 4 Free, aimed at increasing the digital literacy of the community.
''With these programmes, we may have had many individuals adding up to the equivalent of one full-time student (EFTS). These students tended to be older, hence the greater numbers of students in those age groups in 2005.
''However, our student population is distributed across a very wide age range. Our aim is to assist anyone to gain the education they want. Age should be no barrier.''
At the University of Otago, the implementation of the Tertiary Education Strategy resulted in Adult Community Education (ACE) funding being halved in 2011.
From 2013, no further Government funding for ACE short courses has been available to the university sector.
Director of the University of Otago's Summer School and Continuing Education programmes Elaine Webster points out that despite such funding cuts, the institution still caters for what might be termed ''more mature'' learners, including enrolment in formal degrees.
''My office co-ordinates short courses through Summer School and the continuing education stream. We also provide a service for other divisions in the university. The main delivery of continuing education now at the university is through public lectures and seminars.''
(A timely aside: Otago University's Summer School has the following courses starting on Monday: ''Letterpress printing by hand''; ''Through a poet's eyes: Dunedin, City of Literature''; ''Introduction to Gaelic Language''.)
''There are other aspects of university that provide important benefits,'' Webster emphasises.
''There is that sense of broadening your outlook. Learning shouldn't be seen as an object that you get. It's an experience.
''People don't necessarily have to be enrolled at university to have access to mind-expanding knowledge. That is the spirit of continuing education.''
Although would-be learners have had access to free online courses on the internet for years, the options now include offerings from premium institutions such as Harvard, Stanford and Yale, to name a few.
A recent scroll through the list of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) available revealed an almost inexhaustible selection, from studies in dinosaur paleobiology, to corporate finance, to cancer.
''I do know people who are interested in distance learning and there is a lot of free material available,'' Webster says.
However, she believes learning is often best facilitated by personal connection, be it the relationships formed by classmates or the skill of a lecturer enlivening a topic.
''That's the difference: that personal connection versus remote learning. Some people really prosper in a disciplined environment of pursuing information and learning though a specific set of resources. That can suit some people."
Andrew Melville is one of those for whom remote learning has been a success.
Last year, the 42-year-old Dunedin man graduated with a bachelor of business (accounting) degree from the Open Polytechnic.
Having begun as the Technical Correspondence School in 1946, providing training for returned servicemen and women following World War 2, the institution last year attracted more than 31,000 enrolments, including about 1400 from Otago.
Programmes in early childhood education, business, law and applied science are among the most popular for a client base that is predominantly over the age of 20 and engaged in study while also working.
Melville recalls spending many a Sunday morning poring over the books.
''My wife and family were very supportive.
''The thing is, if you want to progress you need certain qualifications. And if you don't try, you'll never know.''
Melville took what might be termed a wait-and-see approach to his educational renaissance.
Having spent 16 years in Ireland, where he was a rugby player and coach, he returned to Dunedin in 2011 to work in his father Stuart's accountancy business.
After completing a business diploma at Otago Polytechnic with the intention of becoming an accountant's technician, Melville was persuaded by his father to continue his studies, the ultimate goal being to qualify as a chartered accountant.
''I looked at my options. I could have gone to Otago University or Open Polytechnic and I found the latter gave me more flexibility to study when I wanted.
''I was working full-time, but even when I was at Otago Polytech I'd go an early class, then begin my work. I'd do catch-up study at weekends,'' Melville explains.
''I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoyed studying. I left King's High School in 1991 and went to university for a year but didn't enjoy it. I have a little bit of dyslexia, so words are a bit of a problem. Numbers aren't, though.
''It wasn't easy. There is definitely a lot of reading, but if you are prepared to put in the work it's not too bad.
''You always have it in the back of your mind that you might fail some exams - and I did fail one - but that's part of life.''
Pat Cody, a Careers New Zealand adviser, notes anxiety - particularly the fear of not achieving - is a key concern for many adults considering a return to formal education.
''There are also anxieties about change, implications on finances and family ... some people worry about the unknown and how things might unfold,'' Cody says.
As Huakau, the fisherman who left behind deep-sea adventures for digital delights, admits, tertiary terrain can be terrifying.
''In my first year I was so paranoid I couldn't type.
''I wasn't the student who came along and knew everything. I needed a lot of help. If you put in the years and try to work, the teachers will help you. I couldn't have done this on my own. The teachers got other students, those a year ahead of me, to come in and train me for two hours a day.''
Yet, despite (or because of) Huakau's challenges, he says the past four years have been magic.
''What I've experienced ... I think it's the best move I've ever made. It has opened up a whole new world.
''To anyone reading this, just do it.''
