Gateway 2.0 Launch of a new pilot programme

GATEWAY PROGRAMME

A new Gateway pilot aims to strengthen the relationship between schools and plumbing businesses to get more young people started on a trades career.

Ten Wellington secondary school students are getting a taste for plumbing by spending one day a week at a local plumbing firm this term and next. The students are part of a new pilot programme looking to create a more structured approach to the long-standing schools Gateway programme.

Masterlink is working with the Ministry of Education on the pilot, which identifies willing employers and matches them with students selected by their schools for showing genuine drive to enter a plumbing career.

Thirteen Wellington colleges have got behind the pilot, and high schools in Auckland and Tauranga are also keen to be involved.

The eventual aim is to roll out Gateway 2.0 to the whole of New Zealand.

Career starters

Plumbing apprentice Brydee King works at Master Plumbers member business Deep in Plumbing, owned by her partner Frans van Diepen.