29 January 2008

IPENZ – National’s Youth Initiative needs to focus on all skill levels

IPENZ believes National’s youth initiative entitling school leavers to free work-skills courses is a good start although it is important to focus on all skill levels to address New Zealand’s future infrastructure challenges.  

“We face a future New Zealand where almost every job must be increasingly up-skilled if our country is to move forward. Already tradespeople use their brain as much as their hands,” says Andrew Cleland, Chief Executive of IPENZ.  

“National’s proposed Youth Guarantee plan recognises the need for school leavers to obtain trade based qualifications, however we must not overlook the fact that as demands continue to increase on our infrastructure we desperately need school leavers to succeed in technology based courses and pursue careers that will develop our infrastructure and industry to ensure future economic growth,” says Andrew Cleland.  

“School leavers should not just be given the incentive to leave school to gain trade based skills,” says Andrew Cleland. “It is essential that students are leaving school with pathways to progress into higher level courses at universities, polytechnics and technical institutions where they are encouraged to develop high level skills, to be innovative and creative, enabling them to pursue careers that can advance our future economic growth and development.  We need students graduating from educational institutions with a portfolio of skills and talents so they can enter technological professions, that’s where our highest labour shortage is.” says Mr Cleland.
 “The Youth Guarantee initiative should assist our young New Zealanders so long they are run in tandem with existing technology education programmes. These technology programmes were introduced by the Government and are supported by IPENZ. They focus on the importance of technology in the New Zealand school curriculum,” he says. “Almost every aspect of our daily life – food, health care, transport, infotech communications, entertainment, our environment – is technology. Specialised technological knowledge and skills are vital to the current and future well-being of New Zealand – we need an increasingly wide range of technology professionals in many different fields to remain competitive, grow our economy and to contribute globally.”
National Party leader John Key today announced plans to fund work-skills courses at local polytechnics for 16-17 year preparing them for trade training and other work-based skill courses.

For more information contact:
Andrew Cleland
Chief Executive, IPENZ, Engineers New Zealand.
Mobile: 021 311 879
DDI: 04 474 8935

Prepared by Julie Buchanan
Communications Manager, IPENZ, Engineers NZ, DDI: 04 473 2028