Limited trade classes for girls
Female high school students who want to work in the trades are calling out for woodwork and metalwork classes to be introduced at their all-girls’ school.
Southland Girls’ High does not offer woodworking or metalworking programmes.
Southland Girls’ High student Huntah Menzies-Cook, 13, said she was interested in entering a trade when finishing school and wanted there to be more options at school for females looking at the trades industry.
‘‘Having a woodworking class here at school would help.’’
Another student Sophie Cook, 13, also said it was an industry she was keen on.
Otago Girls’ High School does provide classes, and says the courses are popular.
Southland Girls High School principal Yvonne Browning said while the school was not against providing trades classes, there were issues with the school’s ability to do so. ‘‘We are not adverse to it at all.’’
Browning said developing such classes was not easy because of funding constraints, health and safety issues and staffing.
The school was not the only one to have a role in exposing female high school students to the trades, she said.
‘‘I don’t think you have to be at school to be able to do it, it’s not imperative to do it at school.’’
Girls’ High had a woodworking day for the girls on Wednesday to expose them to the trades.
The school also offered development courses for year 11 and 12 students through the Southern Institute of Technology, Browning said. ‘‘By doing things like this we are exposing them to this.’’
The Building and Construction Industry Training Organisationacting chief executive Greg Durkin said getting more young people into trades depended on family encouragement, but also the attitude of the schools. ‘‘The woodwork and metalwork [classes] help. It’s the attitude of the school.’’
Giving students every opportunity to explore potential career options was important.
The organisation had been working in schools to give students an opportunity to experience
‘‘They can’t just push academics because not everyone is academic.’’ Caitlin Harvey
the industry since the early 2000s.
Caitlin Harvey, who attended a school in the upper South Island, has been working as an apprentice builder in Invercargill for a year and a half.
She said, while at school, she was always pushed away from subjects like woodwork.
All of her teachers pushed her towards academic subjects and made her feel like carpentry was a lesser subject. ‘‘They can’t just push academics because not everyone is academic.’’
Otago Girls High School principal Linda Miller said her school had offered hard materials courses for over 20 years and the classes had been enjoyable for students at every level.
‘‘We see the skills the girls develop through hard materials technology as really enhancing their educational experience with critical thinking, creativity and communication key.’’
The school has three girls who recently started apprenticeships in the joinery and building industry after leaving school.
The school does not offer metal work, however if a student wanted to partake in the classes they would be offered to do so at Otago Boys High School.
Ministry of Education spokeswoman Pauline Cleaver said New Zealand’s education system was unique in that schools developed and implemented the curriculum by responding to their students’ and community’s needs.
‘‘Parents or caregivers can provide feedback and input into their local school on the curriculum and should approach their school if they have concerns about their school’s curriculum.’’
She said the curriculum was based upon key principals to ensure learning was non-sexist, non-racist and nondiscriminatory.
The curriculum set out a clear direction for all learning of students across eight different areas including technology, which included woodwork and metalwork.