Training organisations say planned reforms a backwards step

Friday, 15 March 2019

'The system's broken' - Education Minister Chris Hipkins announces changes to vocational education sector in February 2019.

Government plans to overhaul the tertiary training sector have met more resistance.

After the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation warned that the building industry was worried about the loss of worksite interaction with trainers, The Skills Organisation and Competenz - two of the biggest ITOs - have also weighed in with concerns.

Three key proposals – merging New Zealand's polytechs, creating a new vocational education funding system, and making the new national organisation responsible for 145,000 trainees and apprentices to better align on and off-the-job education – aim to prepare the system for a future economy in which Kiwis are likely to retrain throughout their working lives.

The Skills Organisation conducted a survey of 920 employers and found 55 per cent said they would stop hiring or take fewer apprentices if the plan went ahead.

* Shock, apprehension and hope: Can the radical plan to fix New Zealand's polytechnics work?

Employers said they might be more reluctant to take on apprentices.

* Education overhaul could make skills shortages worse, organisations warn**

'Seven out of ten employers said the changes will bring uncertainty on how the training process will work. The majority of the employers feel the proposed changes will significantly impact on their ability to take on apprentices,' said chief executive Gary Fissenden.

Employers said they were worried about a move back to classroom learning.

'Clearly the outcome of rushing through a change to industry training would be to widen the desperate shortage of trained and skilled tradespeople.'

He said two-thirds of employers said the changes were out of touch with their needs and a shift to more theory-based training.

Competenz chief executive Fiona Kingsford agreed there was widespread concern.

'The majority of employers we've spoken to feel that the current model for apprenticeships and industry training is working well, so why do we need to fix something that isn't broken?

'Not one of the industries we represent were consulted before this plan came out, and these industries are worried that disrupting the system is a backwards step that could result in further gaps, at a time when skilled staff are needed most. Industry is at the forefront of digitisation, mechanisation and robotisation, and ITOs can react quickly to changes and advances in technology. This reform risks slowing down the speed of response to their needs.'

Ken Sowman, chief executive of Plastics NZ, said businesses were concerned that a radical reform could result in a training hiatus.

'Such a rapid transition to the new structure will result in training effectively ceasing for several years while those new structures are bedded in. The reform will not only result in less industry input into training and therefore less relevance, they will also destroy the industry's partnership with our ITO, which is only just recovering from reforms five years ago.'

Pippa Hawkins, general manager of Retail Meat NZ, was worried on-the-job learning might disappear completely.

'We're a small industry and on-the-job learning is extremely important. We would be devastated to see it return to a classroom-only format and feel there is not enough detail from the government about how this new concept will work. Industry training has already been reviewed multiple times in previous years and the current method is working well.'