Increasing momentum in industry training

Increasing momentum in industry training

28 July 2005

"The Prime Minister's announcement of a boost in industry training places is a vote of confidence in industry training as a very successful part of lifting New Zealand's economic performance", said John Meeuwsen Chair of the Industry Training Federation (ITF).

The Prime Minister announced a recommitment to the 250,000 target of industry trainees, a significant increase in funding for industry training and an extra 5,000 Modern Apprenticeships at the Industry Training Federation Conference today http://www.itf.org.nz/ITF_Conference_2005.html.

"The two funding announcements this year[1] constitute the largest additional investment yet made by a government in industry training including Modern Apprenticeships; and it will be matched by industry. Confidence in industry training is warranted due to the hard work of Industry Training Organisations to tackle our industries' skill needs.

"The Modern Apprenticeship target will allow new industries to participate in this programme and expand in industries with skill shortages.

"There were a number of smart policy decisions announced including greater flexibility with the age range of Modern Apprentices, increasing Gateway to all state schools, and a Youth Apprenticeships pilot.

"Gateway is seen by industry as an important connection between school and work, and the Youth Apprenticeships pilot is an exciting idea to further strengthen those links - it will give young people another option to make their education relevant to them.

"The ITF welcomes the announcements and looks forward to the working with the government agencies to build the capability of the industry training infrastructure to meet the expanded expectations of our sector.

ENDS

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