4 July 2011 – For immediate release

Māori Trades Expo will give Māori the tools

Stronger Māori involvement in rebuilding Christchurch will be the focus of the Māori Trades Expo at CPIT’s Sullivan Avenue campus on Friday 8 July.

The event will showcase new pathways for trades training that will prepare graduates for current industry needs. As well as 12 to 14 week foundation programmes in carpentry, painting & decorating, plasterboard, plumbing and drainlaying, the collaboration between CPIT’s Trades Innovation Institute and Te Puna Wanaka (TPW) will offer upskilling programmes to foster leadership opportunities. The Expo will also present information on industry pathways through opportunities within the BETA group of Industry Training Organisations and through the Centre of Assessment of Prior Learning at CPIT. Individual learning programmes incorporating pastoral care, industry networking opportunities and apprenticeships will define the new approach.

“The new Māori trades programmes build on initiatives that we have been implementing at Te Puna Wānaka and across CPIT for some time,” CPIT Kaiārahi Hana O’Regan said. “This year we launched the Centre for Māori and Pasifika Achievement to address the engagement and retention of Māori and Pasifika students and to increase awareness of what we as an institution can do around improving these students’ experience and outcomes.

“The new Māori trades initiative is an excellent fit with this vision; it is timely in terms of the needs of our city and it has inbuilt support mechanisms that will ensure Māori students can gain the qualifications they need to create the future they want.”

The Māori trades initiative, He Toki ki te Rika, was officially launched on 21 June with funding from Te Puni Kōkiri and in partnership with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, Te Tapuae o Rehua, CPIT and the BETA workgroup, with support from Ngāi Tahu Property.

The new programmes recall Christchurch’s popular Māori training programmes of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. In fact, graduates from those programmes are returning to mentor and encourage the new entrants. There are up to 200 places, available to all local Māori and ranging from novice to semi-skilled and skilled.

The upcoming expo will include opening speeches, tours of the campus, presentations on available programmes and courses and exhibits from the initiative’s collaborative partners.

All Māori in Christchurch are encouraged to consider if there is anyone in their whānau or network who might be interested in this opportunity and encourage them to contact CPIT’s Centre of Māori and Pasifika Achievement on 0800 24 24 76 to register for the expo.

The Māori Trades Expo runs from 1 to 4pm at Trades Innovation Institute, Sullivan Ave campus.

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