Hon Steve Maharey
Minister Of Social Services and Employment

7 August 2001

The Government's decisions on industry training are in line with the consensus reached at the recent Catching the Knowledge Wave conference, says Associate Education (Tertiary Education) Minister Steve Maharey.

The Conference stressed the need for New Zealand to strengthen its human capability at all levels of the skills spectrum, with a strong focus on equipping New Zealanders with the skills and attitudes to contribute to a knowledge economy.

"The time has come for industry training to take its place alongside other learning pathways in a much more cohesive and forward-looking tertiary sector.

"For many New Zealanders, the workplace is the most suitable and appropriate learning and training pathway. Our decision to increase the Industry Training Fund will enable more New Zealanders to participate in formal, structured learning," he said,

Mr Maharey cited Modern Apprenticeships as an example of "an innovative response to the skills shortages being experienced by many industries."

As at the end of June, 2001 there were more than 1,200 Modern Apprentices, with 20.3% of these being Maori and 3.2% Pacific peoples. At the same period, there were 66,390 New Zealand employees participating in Industry Training.

The Government's decisions are contained in a publication published by Skill New Zealand entitled Moving Forward, Skills for the Knowledge Economy, which was launched at the Beehive today. A discussion document on the future shape of the industry training system was widely circulated to stakeholders in March and submissions received.

Steve Maharey said a number of measures were being introduced to improve access to and responsiveness in industry training.

"Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) will continue to have an important strategic role in providing leadership in skill and training matters for their industry. They will be required to plan for their industry's future human resource needs and to promote training to meet those needs.

"Alliances between ITOs, or where appropriate the amalgamation of ITOs, will be encouraged where that would result in improved service for enterprises. Work will also be done to ensure that those industries without ITO coverage come under the umbrella of an existing one or a new one.

"Other notable decisions include the decision to fund a limited amount of training at level 5 of the National Qualifications Framework. Previously training could only be funded up to level 4 of the Framework.

"In the funding area, provision will be made to allow a ballot for a training levy within an industry where such a move is supported by the majority of employers in that industry.

"Moving Forward also includes initiatives to support the development of multi-industry generic skills and raise the level of foundation skills such as literacy and numeracy.

"Strategies are also being developed to provide better information for decision-makers and planners and better coordination between Government agencies. We also expect that the establishment of a new body, the Tertiary Education Commission, to oversee the tertiary education and training sector will result in a more cohesive, coordinated sector," he said.

Steve Maharey said that while there had been strong gains made since the new training system was introduced in 1992, the challenge now was to maintain the momentum and build on what has been achieved to date.