fabrication and welding Graduates from NorthTec

Media release: First graduates from NorthTec’s fabrication and welding certificate en route to apprenticeships

The first graduates from NorthTec’s 18-week Certificate in Fabrication and Welding lined up with the fruits of their labours at NorthTec’s Future Trades campus in Whangarei today.

The students have spent the last 10 weeks of the programme working on a hot rod – each with its own customised touches.

“The boys have done an excellent job and are hoping to gain apprenticeships next year,” said NorthTec’s Automotive Coordinator and Tutor, Simon Phelps. “The course is filling steadily for next year and students will have a range of projects that they can choose to complete.”

Click for big version

Two of the students in the group moved onto the certificate after developing a keen interest in fabrication and welding during their studies on NorthTec’s Youth Guarantee programme.

Youth Guarantee is a fees-free programme for 16-17 year olds designed to give students who have struggled to succeed at school a taste of a trade or industry such as tourism or hospitality.

More than 80 students took part in the programme at NorthTec this year with the Government boosting the number of places on offer at NorthTec to 140 in 2011. Next year students will be able to choose from a range of study options on the Youth Guarantee Programme including trades, hospitality, sport and outdoor education, arts, computing, forestry and environmental studies.

Another of the students in the group, Nan Zhang, moved to Whangarei from northwest China to study at Future Trades. “I had a relative here already who suggested that I come and study at Future Trades. When I moved here I spoke only a little English. I studied English for seven months at NorthTec and would now like to stay in Whangarei and do my apprenticeship in fabrication and welding. I’m really enjoying my studies here – and of course I think my hot rod is the best one!”

(For more information on NorthTec’s Certificate in Fabrication and Welding or Youth Guarantee programme phone 0800 162 100 or go to www.northtec.info).

NorthTec is the Tai Tokerau (Northland) region's largest provider of tertiary education, with campuses and learning centres in Whangarei, Kerikeri, Rāwene, Kaikohe and Kaitaia. NorthTec also has over 60 community-based delivery points from Coatesville in rural Rodney to Ngataki in the Far North.

ENDS

© Scoop Media