New Zealand needs more qualified dairy workers

New Zealand needs more qualified dairy workers

A new engineering-based qualification at Aoraki Polytechnic will produce graduates with the skills to work on today’s high-tech dairy farms and could also significantly reduce potential food safety issues in the industry.

The polytechnic is proposing to deliver a new qualification, the New Zealand Certificate in Dairy Systems (Engineering Level 4), with strands in Milking Systems and Pumping Systems.

This unique qualification will provide the agriculture industry with much needed tradespeople who have the multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills to work in this niche industry.

Regarding the benefits of the new qualifications, Aoraki Polytechnic Chief Executive Alex Cabrera said “students could gain the skills and knowledge to build and maintain dairy equipment”.

But the impact for the dairy industry is potentially much greater.

“Through the provision of this training, it could provide the dairy industry the opportunity to exceed the expectations set as industry best practice, and ultimately increase food safety standards, mitigate risks and assure consistency”.

Graduates will be able to independently plan and specify, install, perform diagnostics on, and maintain milk harvesting and/or water and effluent systems.

Whilst largely engineering based, the qualification crosses over multiple disciplines. It will typically be achieved in a workplace environment as a New Zealand Apprenticeship.

The first year of the new qualification will be offered as part of the polytechnic’s general engineering course, with the next intake commencing in February 2015. The new Dairy programme will build on this.

Polytechnic Portfolio Manager for Trades Barney Hoskins said the programme was an exciting opportunity for Aoraki and something the dairy industry had been asking for.

“The dairy industry has really taken off over the past few years and we really need to make sure we meet the training demands.’’

The proposed new qualification was born from a need to help meet the huge skills shortage in the primary industries sector.

It is estimated that New Zealand needs as additional 50,000 workers by 2025. Of these, more than 7000 are expected to be in Canterbury, and more than 2000 in Otago.

The New Zealand Certificate in Dairy Systems has just been released on the NZQA framework and will be a standalone qualification. The programme has been developed by Industry Training Organisation (ITO) Competenz.

ENDS

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