15 Nov 2017  -  A study done by the University of Southern California and New Zealand’s Victoria University shows that additional trade schools could be a better way to close the income gap than universities. The research found that more investment is needed to go to vocational training because "there are too many four-year colleges serving too many students, and too few institutions with greater focus on vocational education and training," according to Joshua Aizenman, economics chair at University of Southern California. Data shows that the amount of available vocational training relative to the size of a country's manufacturing sector…

30 Oct:  New Zealand’s top carpentry apprentices are getting ready to battle it out for the title of Registered Master Builders CARTERS 2017 Apprentice of the Year on Friday 3 November.  After winning their respective regional competitions the 10 apprentices will compete for the top prize at the national competition, which takes place this Thursdayand Friday in Auckland. The finalists include Seddon-based Olivia Ward who took out the Upper South Island Apprentice of the Year to become the first female apprentice since 2013 to compete in the national final. To win the national competition, the industry’s future leaders must impress…

A new joint institute by the University of Waikato and the Zhejiang University City College in Hangzhou offers degrees in finance, computer graphic design and design media.ZUCC The joint institute’s opening ceremony last month saw China and New Zealand representatives join Waikato and ZUCC staff to welcome 230 students to the campus. The institute opened last month after being formally approved by China’s Ministry of Education in late 2016. Its first intake has 230 students, with the University of Waikato expecting to have 1,000 students enrolled by 2021. Students will be offered degrees in finance, computer graphic design and design…

Massey University has lodged building consent applications for two major construction projects as part of a $120 million development of its Auckland campus. The University will construct a 9800 square metre “innovation hub” including research laboratories, clinics, teaching spaces, and staff and postgraduate student workspace on the main part of the campus, the East Precint off the Albany Expressway. The second consent application is to extend the Sir Neil Waters building, named after the former Vice-Chancellor who established the campus in 1993, to provide additional space. The sale of the campus’ Ōtehā Rohe site, located on Albany Highway, became final…

Young trainees and apprentices will be sharing their success stories with keen young kiwis during next week’s ‘Got a Trade? Got it Made!’ week. “We want young people to know about the massive range of job opportunities that offer the chance to ‘earn and learn’,” says Industry Training Federation Chief Executive Josh Williams. “You can get paid and get qualified, and launch successful careers without racking up a student loan.” Got a Trade! week begins on Monday 21 August, and celebrates 148,000 apprentices and industry trainees who work every day in over 140 trades and services. “While three out of…

Prime Minister, Rt Hon Bill English, will officially open the Kahukura Engineering and Architectural Studies facility at Ara Institute of Canterbury City Campus Christchurch on 10 August. The new $34m, 6500m building on Moorhouse Avenue is the jewel in the crown of a 10 year master plan of rebuilding and refurbishment across the institute’s five campuses. Kahukura was designed by Jasmax to offer students both purpose-built workshops and studios, and flexible learning spaces, that mirror industry workplace conditions. Engineering, architectural studies, quantity surveying and interior design programmes will be taught in the Kahukura building and students have started semester two…

Corrections Minister Louise Upston is impressed at the results being achieved by the Department’s Employer Partnerships initiatives and is looking forward to them continuing to make a positive difference to people’s lives. “Finding steady employment for offenders when they leave prison is a critical step to helping these people turn their lives around. The work Corrections has been doing with offenders and potential employers in this area is very promising,” says Ms Upston. “The decision to recruit eight Offender Recruitment Consultants nationwide has proved particularly successful. Since they began making placements in November, 482 offenders have successfully moved into employment.”…

Otago Polytechnic is investing in Central Otago’s educational future with a new Trades Hub and student accommodation for its Central campus. Construction will begin once consents are obtained on the new 600 square metre trades building at Bannockburn Road. It will house Automotive and Carpentry programmes, classrooms, offices and a common room. There will also be a platform for the construction of a four-bedroom house that the students will build. This is stage one of the proposed campus redevelopment project, which is a move from the current location to a new facility on Otago Polytechnic’s Bannockburn Road site. Head of…

 A record number of Kiwis are looking to the trades to build a career but this is still not enough to meet industry demand. For the first time in the organisation’s history, the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation has 11,000 apprentices actively working towards a qualification. This is a fantastic milestone but we still need thousands more apprentices in training each year to meet demand,” says BCITO Chief Executive Warwick Quinn. “New Zealand is in the midst of a skills shortage,” says Quinn. New Zealand’s construction and building sector desperately needs more recruits. It needs 65,000 new people over…

The Government is investing $170,000 in a Canterbury initiative that connects secondary students with businesses who can transition them into further education, employment or training. The funding will also extend Christchurch’s Educated Job Ready Programme to Timaru. Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges and Social Development Minister Anne Tolley announced the funding in Christchurch today at the launch of the Canterbury Regional Economic Development Strategy refresh. “While Canterbury has New Zealand’s lowest regional unemployment rate, skills shortages pose a significant risk to high-value production across all districts in the region,” Mr Bridges says. “Canterbury needs to keep its young people and…

Most New Zealanders are still confident their jobs will be safe from advances in technology over the next decade, according to the latest findings of an ongoing research project into attitudes around the future of work. Dr David Brougham from the Massey Business School and Professor Jarrod Haar from AUT surveyed 500 New Zealand employees earlier this year and found that 80 per cent of participants did not think their job could be automated. The results did not deviate significantly from data collected in 2015 and 2016, despite extensive media coverage of the issue over that time. Dr Brougham will…