Builders reject proposal to centralise training
The Government risks making a shortage of construction workers worse if it pushes through with planned reforms to trades training, the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) says.
The Government is proposing to combine the country’s 16 polytechnics into one entity, the New Zealand Institution of Skills and Technology.
The new entity would also take over responsibility for the country’s apprentices, making industry training organisations (ITOs) partially redundant.
The sector as a whole lost $53 million in 2017, and four polytechs – Greymouth’s Tai Poutini Polytechnic, Wellington’s Whitireia and WelTec, and Unitec in Auckland – together received $100m in Crown bailouts last year.
The BCITO held a summit in Auckland to discuss the proposal in detail. Chief executive Warwick Quinn said the feedback from employers was that they did not want to lose the on-site relationships that had built up with the specialist BCITO over many years.
‘‘Under the current system, our field staff build strong relationships with every individual employer and apprentice,’’ he said.
‘‘This allows us to customise their learning. In construction, most people learn from mentoring and support. They don’t learn from books. This focus needs to be retained in any reforms, and the sector is sceptical how this will work in the new system.’’
Quinn said employers would disengage from the process if the Government tried to push through reforms removing that on-site relationship.
‘‘No employers mean[s] no apprentices and you make capacity issues worse.’’