NorthTec programmes' work pathway for prisoners

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A prefabricated house frame built by inmates on the NorthTec Elementary Construction course at Northern Region Corrections Facility at Ngawha.

Media release: NorthTec programmes provide future work pathway for NRCF prisoners and benefit community

NorthTec’s construction tutors are equipping prisoners at the Northern Region Corrections Facility at Ngawha near Kaikohe with real world skills to turn their lives around and to help those in need in the community as part of an agreement with the Corrections Inmates Employment programme (CIE).

Ngawha prisoners have been working on components such as house frames, decks, landings and stairs as part of the regional delivery of the Habitat for Humanity project that provides homes for families in need around the world.

The components that the Ngawha prisoners have made have gone to new homes in Waikare, Whangarei, Dargaville and Kaeo over the last three years - with the latest delivery being made at the end of last week.

“We want to acknowledge the work of the prisoners,” said NorthTec tutor Shane Walden. “They do the work with heart and enthusiasm and to a good standard. We’ve had a fresh crew for every Habitat for Humanity project that we’ve been involved in and they’ve all bought into the kaupapa.”

NorthTec tutor Taina Savage said that in addition to getting skills that can make them more employable and help them to avoid a life of crime when they leave prison, prisoners feel that they are putting something back into the community that they may have taken from because of their offending.

“A family is benefiting that is in need. There’s a sense of helping a whanau.”

Prisoners who complete the NorthTec construction courses receive a NorthTec Certificate in Elementary Construction and a “B Constructive” National Certificate in Building Construction and Allied Trades Skills.

Some prisoners have gone on to embark on the National Certificate in Carpentry (Level 4) – a pathway qualification to a career as a builder.

The Minister of Corrections the Hon Judith Collins recently toured NRCF and was impressed by the impact that the construction programme was having on prisoners, said Mr Savage.

“I would like to see similar training programmes running in all the corrections facilities throughout the country,” said Mr Walden.

“Programmes like this could lead to a total change in direction for some of these men,” said Mr Savage. “We’ve seen huge shifts in the attitude of the men who take part.

“Many of them go on from these courses to be productive in other areas within the prison. Our hope is that they can use the skills they acquire to become contributors to the economy and the communities where they live once they are released.”

In February/March 2010 NRCF prisoners will be constructing components for the next Habitat for Humanity project. A team of volunteers will also be coming over from the United States in early 2010 to work on a house as part of the Global Village project that has constructed more than 100,000 houses worldwide for families in need.

NorthTec is the Tai Tokerau (Northland) region's largest provider of tertiary education, with campuses and learning centres in Whangarei, Kerikeri, Rāwene, Dargaville, Kaikohe and Kaitaia. NorthTec also has over 60 community-based delivery points from Coatesville in rural Rodney to Ngataki in the Far North.

ENDS

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