Colin King MP
National’s Associate Education (Trade Training) Spokesman
29 April 2008
Trade training is a focus for National
National Party Associate Education (Trade Training) spokesman Colin King says a National Government would be working
with business and Industry Training Organisations to stop the appalling drop out and failure rate in modern
apprenticeships.
“Thursday is Industry Training Day, and the Industry Training Act was a product of the National Government in 1992. This
Act has gone along way to meeting today’s training needs with its wide and varied opportunities.
“But there is much more that needs to be done. Labour capped the funding to the Industry Training Organisations and has
been responsible for spending $400 million on reform after reform. These are valuable dollars which would have far
better returns focused on productivity training inside the work place.
“National recognises and thanks all those employers and employees who have embraced the workplace training model, and
encourages them to continue to train for excellence so we can become a high-skill, high-wage economy.
“National will support the ITOs in the leadership role set for them within the Act – by supporting ITOs, formal
education providers, and businesses to build more enduring relationships.
“National’s Trades In Schools policy will be a very visible feature of this. We’ll also relentlessly target literacy and
numeracy to equip students with the basic skills they need to become the tradespeople of tomorrow.”
ENDS