Apprenticeships grow careers and businesses

Apprenticeships grow careers and businesses – and there has never been a better time to start an apprenticeship than now.

Supplied

That is because the government is covering the portion of fees that can be attributed to training that occurs between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2022. This is known as Free Trades Training.

Further, government is providing direct funding to employers to help cover the additional costs associated with training an apprentice on the job. This equates to $1,000 a month for the first year, and $500 a month for second year apprentices up until August 2022. This is called the Apprenticeship Boost and is available by application to the Ministry of Social Development. The good news is that our industry has several apprenticeships to choose from. From pipfruit and kiwifruit to citrus and avocados in our Fruit Production apprenticeship. Tomatoes to cucumbers to lettuce and asparagus in our Indoor Crop Production apprenticeship. Broccoli, to yams and zucchini in our Outdoor Crop Production apprenticeship. Or packer, grader, dispatcher, coolstore operations supervisor in our Postharvest apprenticeship. Our apprenticeship programmes will provide the standards for the skills and expertise requirements to be trade qualified in the horticulture sector, and for our industry people to be valued and rewarded wherever they choose to be.

What is an Apprenticeship?

The term apprenticeship means that the learning meets a range of requirements set by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), and the Tertiary Education

Commission. For example, our apprenticeships contain competency standards requiring that a learner must be able perform the task to obtain the standard. Unlike other forms of assessment where learners may just have to understand 50% of the topic in order to get a pass, with the apprenticeship the learner must be able to show they are competent. Apprenticeships should not be confused with ‘cadetships’ which could be literally anything as determined by the creator.

Our apprenticeship programmes will provide the standards for the skills and expertise requirements to be trade qualified

There are three parties in an apprenticeship: the apprentice, the employer and the Primary ITO training adviser. Each has unique responsibilities. For the apprentice, these are to work and learn. For the employer, these are to train and support the apprentice. For Primary ITO training advisers, it’s about facilitating the training and supporting both the apprentice and the employer throughout the apprenticeship. We have over 1,000 learners in the horticulture production sectors.

New vehicle micro-credentials

Additional financial support from government has not been limited to apprenticeships. All of our programmes that have been created by employers for employers have either no fees or reduced fees. The latest new programmes to benefit from this funding are micro-credentials in vehicle training for tractors, light utility vehicles (LUVs), motorcycles and quad bikes. Micro-credentials are bite-sized pieces of learning that have been created by Primary ITO so that specific, specialised skills can be acquired.

Employers will have a short window to able to obtain these micro-credentials for their employees with no course fee. The cost in most cases is a day off-job for the employee and another part day for assessment – a relatively low cost for peace of mind.

National Horticulture Field Days

Machinery displays are often a drawcard on show at Field Days – as demonstrated at the recent show at Tomoana Horticultural Field Day in June. A good selection was on display including the Hydralada, popular with pruners, pickers and orchard workers. The Hydralada and tractor competitions made for good viewing. It was great to see an increased focus on careers and workforce, and a huge programme tailored for schools to interact with exhibitors on the first day. Our staff enjoyed engaging with the young people who are keen on careers in the primary industries, and the opportunity to connect with employers and industry stakeholders. It was also good to see the focus on innovation and technology.

Adam Fleck on the Hydralada at National Horticulture Field Days

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