Unitec to offer more student places in building trades next

PRESS RELEASE
08.11.2011
Unitec

Unitec to offer more student places in building trades next year

New Zealand’s largest provider of construction and trade training, Unitec, has announced plans to significantly boost student places in 2012 – welcome news for an economy in need of a growing construction workforce.

Unitec will offer 34% more student places across a range of construction, civil engineering and trade programmes at Post Graduate, Bachelor, Diploma and Certificate levels next year (1).

Over a thousand additional students will have the opportunity to take up training opportunities in construction, civil engineering, carpentry, electrical engineering, plumbing and gasfitting and quantity surveying.

Interest in trade, construction and civil engineering training among students has been strong recently. Enrolments on courses starting in August have shown an increase of more than 30% on 2010 second semester student numbers.

“The recovery of Christchurch and the growth of the national economy is dependant on companies having access to qualified staff who can get construction projects off the ground,” says David Nummy, Executive Dean of Unitec’s Faculty of Technology and Built Environment.

“As New Zealand’s largest construction and trade training provider we have a leading role to play in boosting and upskilling the construction workforce.”

In August Unitec opened a new Northern Campus at Albany which offers a number of trade and other programmes. 18 year old Paul Garland is one of the Northern Campus’ new students and is completing a Certificate in Multiskill Building Construction. Paul plans to enrol in Unitec's Certificate in Applied Technology in Carpentry next and then complete an apprenticeship. "I really enjoy building and I think the construction industry is a good career option. I would like to eventually set up my own business," he says.

From March 2012 additional places in a number of programmes will be available to students. Unitec will also offer a new Graduate Diploma in Construction Project Management, making it the first tertiary education provider in Auckland to offer this level of qualification.

The Diploma is targeted at people working in the construction industry who want to move into a project management role. It provides students with the skills to solve complex problems in a construction environment and provide leadership in a team environment.

"Although the course doesn't commence for another six months, there has been very strong interest from prospective students already," says Mr Nummy.

The Government sponsored draft Built Environment Skills Strategy, released in July, highlights the need to develop management training in the construction sector. The Strategy's objective is to support an increase in productivity in the construction sector by 20% by 2020.

"We have received very strong support from the construction sector for the establishment of the Graduate Diploma programme. There is a strong demand for individuals with construction project management skills, both because of the scale of rebuilding required in Christchurch and here in Auckland as new infrastructure is developed and remedial work continues to fix leaky buildings," says Mr Nummy.

This October Unitec will also offer additional Carpentry and Eletrotechnology programmes to enable a greater number of students to gain trade qualifications. Information about courses is available online at www.unitec.ac.nz.

Notes to Editors

(1) Currently approximately 1,770 equivalent full time students (EFTS) study construction, civil engineering and trades programmes at Unitec. In 2012, Unitec has announced plans to offer 2,378 EFTS places in these disciplines. The actual number of students enrolled at Unitec studying these programmes is much higher, with over 5,500 students enrolled in programmes at the Faculty of Technology and Built Environment. Many students combine part time study with work.

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