Skills for Good - September 2020: Tools to help trainees succeed, former refugee helps others, free enrolments and more

Kia ora

In this edition we provide further information on two Government initiatives, the Apprenticeship Boost and the Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund.

To support all sectors under our gazetted coverage, Careerforce has made the decision to waive enrolment fees for the New Zealand Certificate in Cleaning (Levels 2 and 3), and the New Zealand Diploma in Business (Level 5 and 6) until 31 December 2020.

As we approach the end of the year many workplaces and learners will be keen to complete their qualification. In this edition we provide some ideas to help ensure your staff remain motivated and successful in their training journey.

Ngā mihi nui

Andrew Saunders
General Manager, Employer Services

Kumari Timsina knows full well the challenges of settling into a foreign land. As a former refugee herself, she went through the process of finding her feet until finally, she is now thriving and able to help others with their own journey of settling in.

A former Bhutanese refugee from the Kingdom of Bhutan, Kumari had to flee her home country with her family. The experience was hard, and they encountered many obstacles.

Her experience and genuine desire to help others have made her an asset to the Palmerston North branch of the New Zealand Red Cross, where she is now a Settlement Case Worker.

Earlier in the year, and as part of Budget 2020, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced a $16m COVID-19 Response Projects Fund. The intent for this fund was to seek proposals from ITOs and Workforce Development Councils (WDCs) for initiatives that will support industry recover from the impacts of COVID-19 through until the end of the 2021/22 financial year.

Following feedback from our health and wellbeing sectors, Careerforce put in a proposal for a significant promotional campaign to promote our sectors as compelling career pathways for COVID-19 displaced workers, and to encourage the development of a more diverse workforce that better reflects the demographics of the client base. COVID-19 exposed a real weakness in current workforce coverage as a result of a significant proportion of the workforce being unavailable due to being deemed vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19, and also as a result of border closures limiting the ability to bring in foreign workers.

We have received approval in principle for a nationwide campaign, with funding paid out in stages, and subject to agreed milestones. The first stage is the development of the brief, and specific campaign objectives. Stakeholder engagement and feedback as the campaign is developed will be critical, and if you have any initial observations about the campaign and what you would like it to achieve, we’d love to hear from you – just drop a line to us via marcomms@careerforce.org.nz.

It’s hard to believe that another year has rolled around, and we’re now in planning for our fourth annual employer satisfaction survey. Your feedback is extremely important to us, and instrumental in guiding our decision making, so we actively encourage you to complete the survey. We expect survey invites to be sent early November, and that the survey will close off at the end of November.

In the meantime, we continue to make progress across all the actions we committed to as a result of the 2019 survey. You can review these here.

Here is a reminder about the Government's Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF), which removes costs for eligible programmes in targeted areas for learners and employers, through to December 2022. The fund is targeted towards industry skill needs where demand from employers for these skills will continue to be strong, or is expected to grow, during New Zealand’s recovery period from the impacts of COVID-19. For a list of qualifications and programmes that qualify, please check our website here.

The Government’s Apprenticeship Boost fund is designed to help employers to retain and bring on new apprentices as the economy recovers from the impacts of COVID-19. More information is available on our website here. See article below on clarity around use of organisation name.

In addition to these Government initiatives, Careerforce has made the decision to waive enrolment fees for the New Zealand Certificate in Cleaning (Levels 2 and 3), and the New Zealand Diploma in Business (Level 5 and 6) until 31 December 2020* See our website for more information; Cleaning programmes, Business programmes

*For enrolments in NZ Diploma in Business (Level 5 & 6) that are eligible for Fees Free or for any applicable grants, these entitlements will take precedence over the Careerforce free enrolment offer.

In previous issues, we have promoted the Apprenticeship Boost fund, including instructions on eligibility and how to apply. If you currently have apprentices, or are enrolling new apprentices, you are likely eligible to receive Apprenticeship Boost payments of $1000/mth for apprentices in their first year, and $500/mth for apprentices in their second year.

Applications for Apprenticeship Boost payments are made via the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Following discussions with the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), issues have been highlighted around inconsistencies in organisational names between the MSD application form, and the Industry Training Register (ITR) – the latter comes from how your organisation is set up at Careerforce. These inconsistencies are resulting in delays in payments to employers. It is important that the identical legal organisation name is used across both. We are updating our records as we become aware of examples.

We have had people asking "How should they report unit standard results?" To answer that, we just need to know the source of the assessment.

If it came from Aka Toi (our online learning platform), whether online or a downloadable task, it is always marked on Aka Toi. When all tasks in a module are complete, Aka Toi will automatically report the result and no further action is required by the assessor.
If it came from the Resource Library, it is always marked on the document and the assessor reports the unit standard result via iportal.

Auckland DHB’s Health Care Assistant Programme gave 18 new cadets the opportunity to start a career in healthcare. The latest cadetship has seen Auckland DHB partner with Careerforce to deliver work-based learning, with an on-the-job approach, embedded with Pacific pedagogy.

The programme, which has been in place since 2016, is an important mechanism for reducing barriers to participation in the health workforce and creating opportunity for wider pathways into health careers for Māori and Pacific.

Nurse Educator, Augustina Reid, said that having the flexibility in delivering this programme worked very well for them. They managed to make it their own to meet the learning needs of the cadets and the requirements of the workplace.

“We can choose where to start and which modules to have them study first, based on the individual cadet’s needs and the needs of the clinical wards they were to be assigned to. They learnt skills that they needed right now.”

The partnership with Careerforce works according to Reid. “The support we received was fantastic and the modules or learning resources were helpful and easy to use.”

The cadetship programme provides opportunity for young people in the community as well as current non clinical hospital staff who wish to staircase up within the DHB.

Qualification Review - Rehab L4 – Waiting for NZQA submission
Further work on this review is on hold until the other qualifications that are part of the Health & Wellbeing suite have caught up, so that they can be submitted to NZQA together.
Qualification Review - Skills for Living L1 – Preparing for submission
Attestation Gathering closed on 10 September. We will now prepare all the documents required for submission to NZQA.
Qualification Review - PCPA L4 – Analysing feedback
We have completed all consultations and are now analysing feedback. We will draft recommendations and share these with all stakeholders.
Qualification Review - Social & Community L4 – Preparing for submission
Attestation Gathering closed on 28 August. We will now prepare all the documents required for submission to NZQA.
Qualification Review - Public Health L5 – Reviewed Qual Approved by NZQA
The reviewed qualification was approved by NZQA on 28 August. We are waiting for the reviewed qualification to be published on the NZQF.

The Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ) is working with different district councils to organise industry training graduations. This is another great way to recognise your staff who achieve their qualifications through industry training. We ask that if your staff receive an invitation to a graduation, that you encourage them to attend with their whānau.

Here are the district councils who have confirmed their participation. If you have any questions, please contact MTFJ.

Marlborough District Council – 12 November
Timaru and Waimate District Councils – 12 November
Kawerau, Opotiki and Whakatane District Councils – 12 November
Buller District Council – 14 November
Waitomo and Otorohanga District Councils – 19 November
Central Hawkes Bay District Council – 10 December
Stratford District Council – 5 November
Waitaki District Council – 16 November
Hauraki and Thames Coromandel District Councils – 17 November
Gisborne District Council – 4 November
Hastings and Napier City District Councils – 21 October
Nelson City and Tasman District Councils – 5 November
Rangitikei District Council – 13 November
Ashburton District Council – 5 November
South Wairarapa, Carterton and Masterton District Councils – 11 November
Christchurch, Hurunui, Waimakariri and Selwyn District Councils – 17 November
Wanganui District Council – 27 November
Hutt City Council – 19 November
Clutha District Council - 11 November