A growing need for specialist, qualified welders in New Zealand saw Competenz work closely with industry to develop two new national certificates in welding to complement existing mechanical engineering qualifications. The National Certificates in Welding (Levels 3 – 4) are now available to NZ industry to actively train and retain their own specialist welders. The [...]
Competenz and the Food & Grocery Council (FGC) joined forces recently, delivering small gift packs to MPs, advisors and key parliamentary secretaries along with a certificate highlighting the 2010 industry training achievements of one of the food sector’s most recognised names, to raise the profile of succcessful industry training outcomes in the food and beverage [...]
Jeremy Aimers of McAlpine Hussman Ltd in Lower Hutt took out this year’s Wallie Askew Workskills competition and the distinction of being New Zealand’s top refrigeration and air conditioning apprentice for 2011. The Wallie Askew Workskills competition is held annually alongside the Institute of Refrigeration, Heating & Air Conditioning Engineers (IRHACE) annual conference, this year [...]
Kyle Tainsh of Ernest Adams bakery in Palmerston North is at the top of his baking ‘game’ having recently won the 2011 NZ Young Baker of the Year Award and gaining an internal promotion – all within one year of completing his craft baking apprenticeship. Kyle believes his apprenticeship training and work experiences put him [...]
The Government’s rethinking of vocational education is timely – the current system is not serving the needs of learners, industry, government or NZ Inc. Nor does it deliver on the Tertiary Education Strategy. We need a system that is simple, structured and focussed on skills, with funding supporting co-operation and completions and delivering value for [...]
The recently produced discussion paper by TEC on the Future Shape of the Industry Training Organisation (ITO) Sector has produced a flurry of activity – the view is that the proposed amalgamation of ITOs is, in fact, fact. The only proposal on the table tends to become reality but we have an alternative view. For [...]
A total of 42 employees at Industrial Tube Manufacturing were recently awarded their Level 1 Occupational Health and Safety national certificates at a graduation ceremony organised by and hosted at the company’s Hamilton site. Local National MP, Tim Macindoe, was there to present each employee with their certificates at a ceremony that celebrated the team’s [...]
The Competenz 2010 Annual Report is available now for viewing or download. It details a year in which Competenz successfully improved its performance to meet the needs of all our stakeholders and industry, and lift the number of timely qualification completions for learners within our gazetted industry coverage – a theme that we’ve continued well [...]
Businesses believe investing in better trained staff will improve productivity but in practice are more likely to change processes than people, according to a new research paper published by Industry Training Organisation (ITO) Competenz. The paper entitled ‘Perceptions of productivity – How medium-sized businesses approach productivity’ revealed the majority of respondents gave an unprompted response [...]
A ‘Roll of Honour’ booklet has been established in recognition of the time, effort, and dedication learners put into completing their industry-based training and their employers for providing support throughout their learning journey. Industry-based training achievements are often overlooked when stacked up next to their university graduate peers, despite the comparable commitment learners must make [...]