Vocational education concerns

The Government says it will “reshape vocational education and training to return decision-making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning.”

Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds adds this includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that are financially sustainable.

The Government will amend the Education and Training Act 2020 to dump Te Pukenga and allow institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) to be established as autonomous entities. These may be stand-alone or as part of a federation. 

Decisions on which polytechnics will be established, and in which form, will be taken in the first half of this year, she says. “The ITPs’ financial difficulties have been decades in the making, and the establishment of Te Pukenga has not resolved these financial issues. It is important for the sustainability of the sector for this work to be undertaken prior to the re-establishment of individual polytechnics.”

The standard-setting functions currently delivered by Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) will be (controversially) taken over by Industry Skills Boards, says Simmonds, but further input is sought from industry on how work-based learning should be structured. WDCs will continue to operate in the interim. As it is essential that the design meets the needs of industry, the Minister held a targeted consultation on two work-based learning options with industry bodies last month.

“I plan to take decisions on the establishment of polytechnics, the design of the work-based learning system and coverage of Industry Skills Boards; and funding for the new system to Cabinet in the first half of 2025.” 

The first stand-alone polytechnics will be in place on 1 January 2026. “This is a tight time frame, but one that supports the earliest possible return to certainty for the sector after years of instability and change. Every effort will be made to ensure that education and training are not disrupted.

“Although there may be some changes to how ITPs are organised, and to how and where programmes are delivered, learners can continue to have confidence in their courses and qualifications. I acknowledge, too, that these changes may be unsettling for those working in the sector. All of those affected by the changes will be kept informed and supported through this process.”

The announcement late last year of further consultation around work-based vocational education was met with cautious enthusiasm by the civil construction industry, which will need to ramp up training and qualifications to deliver on the Government’s infrastructure work programme.

CCNZ Chief Executive Alan Pollard says while the industry welcomed further discussion to establish a sound vocational education model, it was an unstable time for the workforce, and time spent on consultation should be combined with urgency lest uncertainty further undermine learner, educator and employer confidence.

“We’re ready, willing and able to work quickly with officials. Certainty is important, first for employers looking to take on new staff, but also for our colleagues working in the education system, who have faced years of disruption and change and will be looking for stability.”

He adds that it is important any changes enabled the education sector to come to the table in preparing new entrant workers in gaining the skills needed to work in horizontal construction, which involved transport, water and the construction of other core infrastructure such as ports, airports, stopbanks and seawalls.

“This is an industry that has very specific needs. Training is hugely important, in terms of project quality outcomes and in terms of safety outcomes. There is a lot of risk in working underground with heavy machinery, and it’s essential that workers are well prepared.”

There had been concerns in prior consultation that proposed changes risked reducing capability and increasing the cost of construction and maintenance of water and transport infrastructure by placing education cost on industry, making infrastructure construction more expensive and reducing industry’s capacity.

“We are in a lull right now as we wait for the Government’s transport and water construction plans to turn into construction-ready projects and hit the market. And when these projects come, we will need the ability to scale up quickly. We should be ramping up training, now.”

It takes the industry around five years to train a new entrant up to be a multi-skilled civil tradesperson, he says, and infrastructure construction trade skills were in hot demand globally. “While infrastructure construction offered great rates of pay and amazing career opportunities, there was next to no government support for domestic intakes of infrastructure workers through the education system.”

He adds the industry has developed strong relationships with its education partners – Waihanga Ara Rau Construction and Infrastructure Workforce Development Council, Connexis and the Construction Centre of Vocational Excellence – but these organisations needed clarity in their roles to deliver successfully.

Apprenticeships and training will be of pivotal importance, and while it was good to see acknowledgement of this in the latest announcement, civil construction has been disappointed to see its Apprenticeship Boost funding set to end, says Pollard.

“Question marks also remained around the millions of dollars of industry money that had been reserved for civil construction training, currently held in business divisions and education trusts. 

“This money was held specifically for reinvestment in industry training programmes and should not be used to offset current operating deficits,” says Pollard.

More attention on training models such as trades academies and managed apprenticeships was needed, as New Zealand largely did not deliver civil trades skills in schools, fund fit-for-purpose training programmes or provide funding support for workplace training delivery by the civil construction industry, outside of providing workbook-based qualifications, meaning companies were effectively schooling new workers from scratch.

Without real Government-industry partnership to onboard workers through domestic civil infrastructure construction trades intake programmes, the industry would be left to develop skilled civil construction workers from square one, once again, he says.

“For many years now, skilled civil construction workers endeavouring to construct and maintain our infrastructure networks have gone unrecognised and underserved by education, despite delivering some of the most important initiatives for our society. 

“We need to recognise the value these people add to our country, and it’s a real shame to see recognition of these people as skilled and valued workers fall by the wayside.”