The Budget released on the 14th of May announced the acceleration of the development of Workforce Development Councils (WDC) to October 2020 and significant investment in vocational education.
The fast-tracking of the six WDC’s brings the establishment forward from mid-2021 to October 2020. We do encourage you to continue to have your say.
Find out more here.
The big investment in a range of areas of vocational education was announced and we look forward to working with our employers to identify possible funding opportunities for you and your learners. We will bring you more detail on these opportunities to support your workforce. In the meantime, below are the key funding investments:
| $334m funding for additional tertiary education enrolments Provides funding for additional places within tertiary education between 2021 and 2023 to meet the increased demand from learners during the expected economic downturn from COVID-19. $320m targeted investment support for free trades training in critical industries This new fund will make a range of training and apprenticeship programmes free for learners – for all ages, not just school leavers – over the next two years. This will be in addition to any fees-free support the learner has accessed and will help learners of looking to gain skills or re-train in these targeted areas. The fund will be available from 1 July 2020. Up to $412m support for employers to retain and keep training their apprentices This funding is intended to support employers and apprentices to continue training. $19m for group training schemes to support apprentices This initiative will support group training schemes to retain and keep training their apprentices. $141m to increase tertiary education tuition and training subsidies by 1.6% This will support providers to maintain the quality of the learning opportunities accessed by hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders each year, and ensure they remain relevant to students’ and employers’ needs, whether it be a Wānanga, the NZIST and its subsidiaries, Universities, Transitional Industry Training Organisations and Private Training Establishments. $32m for increased funding to meet demand in Trades Academies and specialist support for schools and tertiary education organisations An increase in the volume of Trades Academy places in secondary schools by 1,000 places a year from 2021. $16 million boost to Adult and Community Education This will restore funding and help providers to meet the increased needs for training and upskilling in the wake of COVID-19. $50 million to support Māori trades training This initiative is led by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. They will manage the disbursement of funds. This fund will enable Māori Crown partnerships to support trades training through the establishment of group training schemes. Māori community groups will partner with the Crown to establish and design group training schemes that employ Māori as apprentices and support the placement of apprentices across a range of workplaces. It will work by providing tailored support for Māori employers to take on Māori apprentices. $11 million, plus $15 million of capital investment, for Tiro Whetū, a new online career advice system. The new online careers system will support learners and workers throughout their lifetime to plan and manage their careers. It will help all New Zealanders to understand their transferrable skills and will be particularly valuable for those who can’t easily show clear work history. |
