Pathways to Real and Practical Vocations

The transition from secondary school to tertiary education and work was a major theme throughout this year's Industry Training Federation conference.

Industry Training Federation Executive Director Jeremy Baker led the charge with the concept of five broad sectoral qualifications at a senior secondary school level as a way of providing clearer pathways for secondary school students.

"70% of school leavers are not heading towards university, yet the system is structured around the pathway to university.  We think that sectoral qualifications would help students to identify career choices, but would not limit their options. These qualifications would complement the NCEA, and help remove confusion about vocational education and training options. They would also help students see the relevance of core subjects like English, maths, and science to the working world, which would motivate achievement in these subjects."

The Federation is working with ITOs, government, and sector groups to develop the proposal.  More

Secondary Tertiary Transitions Forum

Each year about  30 percent of secondary students will go on to university and about 15 percent will leave school with no qualifications.  We also know that as well as achievement standards, 37 percent of school students gained ITO standards.  But what does all this mean in relation to secondary tertiary transitions - one of the key focuses of the Tertiary Education Strategy?  Do the many programmes and qualifications lead to successful transitions to work and further education? How can we make sure the important relationships between schools and providers and ITOs support successful transitions?

The ITF will look at all these questions at the NZ Secondary-Tertiary Transitions Forum, to be held on Friday 1 October at the Intercontinental Hotel in Wellington. This one-day forum will hear from different parts of the schools and tertiary sectors and government agencies, look at new initiatives like sectoral qualifications, Trades Academies and Youth Guarantee, and how systems and policies and pathways can be improved to support successful transitions.

Registrations have just opened and we expect demand to be high.

Labour Market and Skills Forum

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce used his opening speech at the ITF Conference to reinforce  Government’s move to focus on performance-based measures for tertiary education.

Industry Training Federation Director Jeremy Baker says such an approach means there will be an increasing interest in better projection of labour market demands.

“Ultimately, the direction the government is heading in means there will be more of an emphasis on whether people get jobs at the end of their courses and qualification.  It means that all parts of the tertiary education sector will need to be more switched on to the skills that the labour market is going to need. There’s also a responsibility for industry to work with ITOs and other parts of the tertiary education sector to plan for skill and training to meet their future need.”

Mr Baker said the Industry Training Federation's one day forum on 1 September on Labour Market and Skills would be ideal for those interested in sharing ideas and expertise, and tapping into some of the resources available in this area.  Register here.

Conference thanks

Thanks to all those who attended conference this year.   A special thanks to all the keynote speakers and workshop presenters who shared their time and expertise so willingly.  Most of their presentations are now available on the ITF website.

Also  a final thanks to our partners Ako Aotearoa; The Department of Labour; and NZQA, and all our conference sponsors.

OECD report on Canterbury SMEs

The OECD's report on the investment that Canterbury small and medium enterprises make in training is now out and makes for an interesting read.   The report finds that highly innovative firms invest more in training than less innovative firms.  And it sends a reminder to Industry Training Organisations that they should do more to expand their industry reach to include SMEs.   Read more

Women in power

The photo on the right is of a bloke. That's not surprising - there have only ever been a handful of women line mechanics working in the New Zealand electricity supply industry. But all that's changing thanks to an initiative developed through the Electricity Supply Industry Training Orgaisation (ESITO) with support from the Ministry of Women's Affairs.

Women in Power will be launched at Parliament next week by the Minister of Women's Affairs Hon Pansy Wong. Nine women in the Waikato, Auckland and Northland regions have been selected to be part of the applied research project - training to become line mechanics with additional support structures in place.

ESITO's Doug Pouwhare says the project will help work out ways to make the industry more attractive to women workers. "If we don't address the lack of women working in this sector, we are not tapping into a viable source offering alternative strengths to address possible skill shortages in the future," he said.
 

Rock stars in the coffee world

Baristas are the new rock stars’ was the claim in the Sunday Star Times magazine earlier this year, in its ‘Going Up’ column.

As Steve Hanrahan, Chief Executive of the Hospitality Standards Institute (HSI), the training organisation for the hospitality industry, said at the official launch of HSI’s three new training programmes for baristas: “This claim recognised the rise and rise of coffee consumption here, and the importance so many of us now place on a really well-made cup of coffee.”

Click here to read more.