We agree with John Key

It was great to see John Key is his Statement to Parliament yesterday pick up on our theme of a need for more relevant tertiary education.

Industry Training Organisations have long held belief that much can be done to better match what is funded in tertiary education with the skills that are needed by industry. A process to achieve this was set out in our Matching Supply and Demand Report released last year.

And new Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce reiterated in this morning's Herald, that while details were yet to be worked out the Government wanted to ensure that money was not wasted.  Our view is that ensuring what government spends on vocational education and training meets the skills demand of business would be a good place to start.

New Minister for Tertiary Education

The Government indicated two weeks ago that it was likely to focus more closely on linking tertiary education and training with economic development objectives with the appointment of Hon Steven Joyce as new Minister for Tertiary Education.

ITF representatives met with Mr Joyce last week to give him an overview of industry training and the work of ITOs and discuss a range of current policy issues.

Some points highlighted were:

• the cost-effectiveness of industry training, including the high return for government investment of 20 credits per year
• the fact that all industry training is linked to real skill needs and national skill standards,
• and the fact that ITO-arranged training has similar qualifications completion rates (37% on average) to equivalent provider-based training.

"We're confident that industry training delivers value for money to the government and it was good to be able to meet with the new Minister so soon after his appointment to share our views," Federation Executive Director Jeremy Baker said.

Research Forum registrations open

It gets more popular every year and we expect that the 2010 Vocational Education and Training Research Forum will be no exception.  The full programme is now out and registrations are open.

This forum sold out last year and with a strong mix of international and local presenters and the focus on applied research, we expect demand for places to be just as high this year.

Your tertiary education fix

Missing Education Review and it's in depth coverage of tertiary education and training issues? So is our former colleague Dave Guerin who has responded by setting up a new ED Blog for "people working in and around NZ tertiary education who care about policy, strategy and results". Guest bloggers are encouraged and Dave will also be seeking views from sector groups on major issues and sharing them with readers.

Meantime, Education Review in a different guise will have an in depth focus on a different part of the education sector six times a year. The first issue is next month. The changes, however, will be happening largely without long-time editor John Gerritsen who is moving on to a new role as Radio New Zealand's Education Correspondent.

KiaOra Mai

KiaOra Mai, an exciting programme for service-industry employees launched by the Prime Minister late last year,  is attracting steady interest from businesses that want to improve their customer service experiences, through training.

A nationwide employers road show will be held over the next few months throughout New Zealand.

The road show will travel to 13 regions, communicating the benefits of the KiaOra Mai programme of training courses.

Keep an eye on its website for more information or call 0800 29 29 29.

Strategic training supports success

Christchurch firm Calcon Ltd not only won the supreme award at the Canterbury Contractor of the Year Awards for 2009, but the InfraTrain Training Award.

With an annual turnover in excess of $22 million, Calcon has established a reputation for high quality work and timely delivery and Contracts Manager Nicholas Tyler says that a strategic approach to training is one of a number of factors behind their success.

Read more about the approach they developed working closely with InfraTrain, the ITO for the infrastructure industries.