Changes to tertiary education will impact the construction industry

The education sector is undergoing a total re-vamp of how training will be delivered to apprentices which will also impact the builders who employ them.

How do these changes affect the way we train our apprentices and what support is going to be on offer for apprentices and employers? The changes are a result of the New Zealand Governments Review of Vocational Education (RoVE) with many of the legislative requirements having already been passed into law by parliament. Regardless of the outcome of the September general election, these changes are set to occur and will have an impact on all parties involved in the delivery of training apprentices including employers within the construction industry.

These changes caused some confusion within the construction industry, resulting in the risk of apprenticeship completion rates dropping away. A further risk was employers who didn’t understand the new scheme simply chose not to take on apprentices, forcing the number of unqualified workers calling themselves tradesmen/women to potentially increase.

New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) Chief Executive, Grant Florence, attended a government select committee meeting in October 2019 calling for the government to get this right or run the risk of history repeating itself. Currently, it is business as usual, with existing and new apprentices choosing to enrol in training with either an Industry Training Provider (ITP) or the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) model and this will remain unchanged up until 31 December 2022.

There’s some good news for those apprentices who enrol from 1 July 2020 through until 31 December 2022. The Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF) will make a range of training and apprenticeship programmes at sub-degree level free and the current industry standard, New Zealand Certificate in Carpentry qualification is included. However, some eligibility criteria must be met to access the TTAF. School leavers will be able to study for free which is great news for younger apprentices, however anyone who has undertaken prior tertiary study for more than half a year or 60 credits at level 3 will not be eligible. Arguably, an older apprentice who has qualifications from previous employment and wishes to retrain, will be disadvantaged.

Employers have not been overlooked either. The Apprenticeship Support Programme (ASP) was announced on 17 June 2020 by the New Zealand Government, who confirmed a $390 million subsidy for employers to train apprentices. The Apprenticeship Boost scheme, accessible under the ASP will allow employers to apply for funding support of $1,000 per month for a first year apprentice and $500 per month for a second year apprentice, up until they complete the first 24 months of their training. Access to the Apprenticeship Boost scheme will be via the Ministry of Social Development and is expected to be accessible for 20 months. Further details on this are being announced.

What happens after the transition, when we see new initiatives like the Workforce Development Councils (WDCs), the Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) and Regional Skills Leadership Groups (RSLGs) developed and appointed? Specific details are still emerging from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) about the various roles and influence these groups and bodies will have on training. The general consensus is, that these are high-level decision-making authorities who will not have a massive impact on the day-to-day training of apprentices on a building site.

After the transition deadline date of 31 December 2022, all apprentices will most likely be required to enrol in the newly established New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology (NZIST). The NZIST was established on 1 April 2020, effectively merging 16 existing ITPs and Polytechnics into one “Super Institute”. It is anticipated that the NZIST will absorb the day-to-day onsite assessment and training delivery functions of BCITO.

The Apprenticeship Boost scheme will allow employers to apply for funding support of $1,000 per month for a first year apprentice and $500 per month for a second year apprentice.

Under this new training model, it could be that all apprentices will be required to attend offsite training at a regional campus of the NZIST. Offsite training generally consists of a mix of both practical and theory components of apprenticeship training which, in my opinion, is something that has been lacking in training offered by other models in recent years. Yet to be resolved are the practical implications for remotely located apprentices e.g. How does an apprentice who has to travel two hours or more to attend a night class or a block course achieve their offsite training? This is compounded further for the builder having to deal with staff away and the loss of onsite productivity. Not to mention whether the apprentice gets paid whilst attending offsite training and whether those apprentices who are not employees but are in a subcontractor relationship with the principle contractor are paid? Keeping in mind the varying scenarios, I suspect we are likely to see a blended model catering for all learners, taking into consideration the age of an apprentice, practical ability, geographical location and the type of employment contract agreed to by both parties.

Never has there been a better time to take on and train an apprentice than right now. However, there are some old sayings that keep occurring to me “the devil is in the detail” and “information is key” so I will be keeping a close eye on government announcements. As we draw closer to 31 December 2022, I will endeavour to keep NZCB members well informed on the changes affecting our industry and the way our apprentices achieve their Trade Qualification.

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