Increasing momentum in industry training
Increasing momentum in industry training
28 July 2005
"The Prime Minister's announcement of a boost in industry training places is a vote of confidence in industry training as a very successful part of lifting New Zealand's economic performance", said John Meeuwsen Chair of the Industry Training Federation (ITF).
The Prime Minister
announced a recommitment to the 250,000 target of industry
trainees, a significant increase in funding for industry
training and an extra 5,000 Modern Apprenticeships at the
Industry Training Federation Conference today
"The two
funding announcements this year[1] constitute the largest
additional investment yet made by a government in industry
training including Modern Apprenticeships; and it will be
matched by industry. Confidence in industry training is
warranted due to the hard work of Industry Training
Organisations to tackle our industries' skill needs. "The
Modern Apprenticeship target will allow new industries to
participate in this programme and expand in industries with
skill shortages. "There were a number of smart policy
decisions announced including greater flexibility with the
age range of Modern Apprentices, increasing Gateway to all
state schools, and a Youth Apprenticeships pilot. "Gateway
is seen by industry as an important connection between
school and work, and the Youth Apprenticeships pilot is an
exciting idea to further strengthen those links - it will
give young people another option to make their education
relevant to them. "The ITF welcomes the announcements and
looks forward to the working with the government agencies to
build the capability of the industry training infrastructure
to meet the expanded expectations of our
sector.
ENDS