NEW GRANT SCHEME TO SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INDUSTRY & WORKFORCE SKILLS

CIVIL + ENERGY + TELECOMMUNICATIONS + WATER

About the Infrastructure Education & Training Charitable Trust Grant

A new grant scheme will support visionary training initiatives that will help to step up the workforce skills of New Zealand’s infrastructure industry. The first round has closed, but more coming in 2023.

The scheme will be funded by The Infrastructure Education and Training Charitable Trust, and will be administered by the Public Trust. It is the legacy left to the infrastructure industry from the Infrastructure Industry Training Organisation that had been trading as Connexis (IITO).

The IITO was wound up when Connexis became a business unit of the Work Based Learning Subsidiary within Te Pūkenga, the government’s new institute of skills and technology, as part of the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) in 2021.

A trust advisory panel, made up of representatives from the infrastructure and education sector, will meet twice a year to assess applications for funding and distribute grants of up to $1 million annually.

The IETCT’s purpose is to distribute the funds in projects that will develop, promote and facilitate education and training within the infrastructure industry, with the overall goal of increasing the skills, competency and effectiveness of the sector’s workforce.

Organisations eligible to apply for the grants include:

• Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning Ltd
• Waihanga Ara Rau Construction and Infrastructure WDC
• Entities providing scholarships, grants or similar to individuals who are in vocational training on an infrastructure related qualification
• Entities working within the infrastructure sector (for example providers, industry associations, industry groups, researchers).
• Connexis ex-board chair Brian Warren says the Infrastructure Education and Training Charitable Trust will ensure IITO provides a lasting positive legacy on infrastructure training within New Zealand.

The full list of funding criteria and instructions on how to apply are on the Public Trust Website.