Day 2 opens with a welcome from Jason Hungerford, the CE of BCITO. He reviewed day 1 and provided a foretaste of the day's events.
The day's opening address is with Shanan Halbert, Tertiary Education spokesperson from the NZ Labour Party. Reiterated support for VET, including employers who help Kiwis attain the skills to contribute to the country's prosperity. Acknowledged that everyone has continued their committment to learners, despite recent years of disruption, restructure and funding challenges. Access, affordability and equity are needed for VET. However, stability is also an important aspect. Certaintity is important and Labour will work with the current system to strengthen delivery. If electied, Labour will complete a review of the funding of higher and vocational education by the end of 2027. A re-focus of the tertiary education strategy towards sustainability and excellence. Stability is not about standing still, it is about providing support for innovation to continue.
Youth unemployment has reached its highest level at over 17% (almost 30,000) apprenticehip participation has fallen to a 15 year low. Good jobs will be created by building/upgrading more houses, schools and hospitals. Supply for skilled trades is essential and investing in these projects will create real jobs, apprenticeships and pathways into skilled careers. Apprenticeship boost (for 2 years + $1000 for a toolkit) and Māori trades trading will be increased. Expanded eligibility for apprenticeships expanded into more industries. It is important to focus on the future of apprenticeships. Higher level qualifications including degree should be offered through VET and apprenticeship. Also increased consideration for prior learning and experiences people bring into qualifications. Support employers, making learning more flexible and helping learners to complete qualifications through additional pastoral support provisions. Lifelong learning also important.
Programmes that support young people to continue at school and move into apprenticeships/tertiary education required through Youth Guarantees. Mosts provision through PTEs, encouraged Wananga and Polytechs to do more. Where someone lives, your family background, should have the not limit opportunities. Cost of living costs making it harder to study. Education should help improve lives, VET is fundamental to Aotearoa future. Changes in lives is the key, not outcomes based on EFTs and financial returns.
Then the international keynote is with Dr. Caroline Smith, Executive director for the Centre for Education and Training, Australian Industry Group. She presents on ' VET in Australis: reform, opportunities, and challenges from the industry perspecctive'. She started work as a trainee before shirting across to higher education.
Australian Industry Group (established 2021) began with representing manufacturing but now drives new thinking for education and training in the context of work across many businesses and industries. Through research, thought leaderships and advocacy, explore new ways to build skills and capabilities of companies.
Skills and workforce shortages widespread across the Australian labour market. Productivity growth (or lack of) a major challenge. However, tech intensive industries have increased productivity compared to employment intensive industries. Average worker in Australia can expect 40% of their existing skills become transformed or become updated between 2025 and 2030. Overviewed the system reforms across recent years - national focus on skills, new system architecture (tripartite, 10 jobs and skills councils, new national skills taxonomy), reduced financial barriers to training, tertiary harmonisation and innovation to meet industry needs (TAFE Centres of Excellence). Summarised challenges of the complex system, for example training packages take at least 2 years to review,
Falling apprenticeship and traineeship commencement exacebate skills shortages. Cost (reduction in incentives) and complexities experienced by employers one reason. Employer and student satisfaction in VET declining for more than a decade (from almost 90% satisfaction to 76%). Shared the 3 evidence based priorities to strengthen TAFE. Strengthen apprenticeships and traineeships as the skills pathway to many in demand jobs; boost lifelong learning in the workplace context; and improve productivity through learning at work and better connection between skills policy with economic development.
Shared findings from employer perspectives. Apprenticeship/traineeship not producing sufficient skilled people. Financial incentives do not solely drive decision making. Majority satisfied but complexity of the system a significant barrier. Shared the economic equation for employers who are at the heart of apprenticeship commencements. Identified the 6 priorties to strengthen the apprenticeship system - economic equation remains viable, widen pool of employers, ensure strong future pipeline for apprentices, widen model to new areas, minimise inconsistencies across juridictions and support high quality apprentice and traineeship experiences. Lifelong learning also important through boosting lifelong learning in the workplace context and strengthening foundation skills in the workplace. Needs system-wide approach (comprehensive national strategy required), review of barriers to investment and strengthening of foundation skills. Investigating skills policy and contribution of workplace learning needs to continue - encourage workplace delivery options, support productivity - enhanced workplace learning, match regulatory setting to enable viable enterprise-based training organisations; support increase of recognition of prior learning. Better connection between skills policy with economic development needs to tighter. Australian challengea are very similar to those In Aotearoa but they have even more complexity due to being a larger country and a federated governmental system.
After morning tea, a plenary address from Katherine Rich, CE of Business NZ presented on 'Skills divided: how training can drive New Zealand's economic growth'. Business NZ appreciated the work done by VET. Skills are not just an educational outcome, nut they contribute business productivity and growth and individual fulfilment. Skills are an untapped productivity lever; employers want the system to work, but a 1/3 not convinced, shift focus on qualifications to skills. Pisa scores have dropped. Adult skills reflect similar trends. 28% of NZ workers are skill-mismatched (OECD). Getting people into jobs where their skills are utilised is a postive goal. Hence, economic policy is also education policy.
Skills shortages have persisted through economic cycles. Although acute labor scarcity has eased but structural skills gaps remained. One in 3 employers say graduated (higher education and VET) are not meeting their skill needs, 45% agreed. Access to skills is employers' top employment issue. A certificate must mean competence - built in real competencies for jobs, proven in the workplace, results everyone can see and raise standards and aspiration.
AI expected by most employers to reshape their workforce (almost 60%). 23% rank emerging technology as their most important employment issue, second to access to skills. AI is powerful, uneven, and only getting started. Currently, usage si a fraction of what models can already do. Gap between capability and adoption is the opportunity. Training system needs to update quickly abd support current and relevant learning. Mechantronic technicians have no apprenticeship of diploma training system in Aotearoa. Therefore, no technicians being trained to support degree qualified mechantronic engineers. Funding for qualifications need to be consistent to the type of work being completed. L4 is too low a level for mechantronics.
Therefore, skills changing faster than systems, new skills earn a premium and skills are becoming the currency of work. NZ businessed responding by seeking policy certainty, manage financial pressure, rely on immigration and step back on the traditional system. Building the skills bridge includes - clear school pathways, stronger foundations, speed to market, measure what matters, benchmark the best, and fund outcomes, not inputs. Qualifications need to be trusted!
I then attend one of the breakout sessions. Adrienne Bull, with Stephen Ede, from the Food and Fibre Industry Skills Board on 'beyond consultation: values, trade-offs and accountability in qualification design'. Went through the qualification design process. It is collaborative, not necessarily democratic! Although ISBs are 'industry-led' they are government funded and need to work within the TEC funding roles, delivery constraints, NZQA requirements and consult with industry peak bodies, large and small employers, subject-matter experts, recent graduates, Māori businesses, iwi, campus and work-based providers. An activity ensued with aspects of technical expertise, workbased/campus baed delivery, small components/large qualification, changing demographics, 50/50 Māori ownership and new skills sets needed, to be worked through for a seafood skills needs. What heppens when no option satisfies every legitimate objective or partner? Discussion then ensued as groups reported back on whether consensus was arrived at.
Presented what actually happened in the real project. First consultation undertaken, reponses collected and collated, compromise could to split qualification into strands to allow for localised cultural needs. So there is no right decision, but that does not mean any decision will do. Introduced a decision- making framework. People in advisory groups need to how ISBs gather intelligence to inform decisions, how they can then influence the decisions, and who as the authority and responsibility for the decision. The decision itself must be reasonable, defensible and transparent and subject to evaluation and review.
Therefore, a decision narative includes: mandate, contributions, agreement or disagreement and judgement. Trade-offs and consequences need to be thought through as well.
Emily Fabling - DCE quality assurance, and Stacey Rees, manager monitoring and risk, from NZQA then provides a plenary address on 'being a regulator when the world in moving'. Rereeiterated that regulators and providers are not on opposite sites of the bridge. For VET qualifications to be trusted, everyone is on the bridge together. NZQA takes a bigger picture, and individual providers may not always see the wider view. There are no 'wrongs' but there are always better ways to do things.
NZQA has a role to keep New Zealand qualifications worth trusting. Regulators and deliverers have different roles and different responsibilities. The rapidly changing environment makes things even more challenging. As an example, 36,500 NZ citizens left but 60,600 from other countries arrived. Both Australia and the US of A have tightened international student nubers. Rise in NZ from 83,000 in 2024 to forecasted 119,000 in 2034. There are now more flexible ways to attain a qualification, with pressure from a market/fee driven system to provide positive outcomes. Regulators ask the question, does that qualification meet quality standards.
Fake qualifications are prolific. Qualifications travel and these may arrive in NZ. Every fake qualification devalues the genuine qualifications. AI challenge assessment practice and outcomes. Academic integrity policies must be up-to-date and maintain their validity and reliability. AI challenges NZQA and it can be used to help it deliver better, faster and more consistent public and regulatory services. Some tools already used: AI powered website chatbot; document recognition tools to speed up international qualifications assessments, approvals and accreditation.
Discussed the 3 tiers for managing TEO non-compliance : educate (minor or isolated non-compliance), direct (moderate to significant) and enforce (significant non-conpliance). Regulations need to be applied at the right time and with the right touch. At the TEO level, there is a need to make better approval decisions, maximise impact of limited resources, identify areas of concern proactively. At the system level, identify system level patters and trends, design targeted sector guidance. Shared the NZQA risk framework - identify, assess, verify and intervene. A bridge needs guide rails and regulators and providers need to maintain dialogue to sustain trust in the qualification system.
After lunch the last breakout session is with Asharie Perera from the BCITO and Bart Langton from Ipsos on ' building bridges for the trades: what 8 years of tracking research revealed about perceptions, participation and influence'. Focused on 'what actually gets people into trades careers? Workforce shortage is often a percption rathe than s recruitment problem. These could include uncertainty, career fit and pathway confusion. Most recruitment strategies assume a linear journey but the study suggested something was missing. Not just awareness, understanding, interest, investigation, application and recruitment. Multiple angles used to track 8 years. Track what people think, Yest what changes behaviour and Understand how decisions are experienced. Not only numbers, but the human story.
Parents were often more important than students. They shape perceptions, provide information, reinforce beliefs and legitimise career pathways. In general, people rarely aspire to careers if they struggle to picture it. Knowing what is involved in the work, the pathways, and progression are helpful. Provided example of BCITO video series, pitched at parents, to encourage trades apprenticeships as an option. Brochure, factsheets, and websites did not work, instead it was people centred - with builders, apprentices, employers, mentors, real stories and real experiences - socially constructed understanding.
Different ' audience' faced different barriers. However, they all share one challenge, understanding how to move forward. Therefore the main barrier was not informational but navigational. Can I see mydelf doing this? How do I get there? what happens after I state. Information overload and underguide. Navigation provides support to inform, connect, guide, and convert. It is not only one step! Guidance changes knowledge and in turn, changes behaviour. Every industry is competing against uncertainty - it is not between industries. Changing perceptions is possible, but keeping them changed is the real challenge.
Amanda Williams from BCITO presented briefly on the International Women in Trades initiative in May 2027. BCITO will be hosting a tradeswoom building bridges delegation from the US of A and other countries. The visit is for 2 weeks. It is the organisation's 10th anniversary. Call for expression of interest and contributions (before end of this year) from across Aotearoa to support the programme, host a site visit, share research or good practice, provide an industry perspective etc. Sharing of experiences, challenges and solutions will form part of the programme.
Then a presentation on WILNZ conference for 13th to 15th April 2027 with a theme of Future ready graduates: building capability through work-integrated learning. Conference at Wintec in Hamilton.
A panel then convenes to discuss 'industry-led subjects'. The panel is facilitated by Josh Williams and include Sarah Davis from the Ministry of Education, Catriona Petrie from Construction and Specialist Trades ISB, and Michael Fleming from NZ Graphics and Technology Teachers Association. Each provided background and commentary on the initiative. Schools have not had an opportunity like this before to connect with community and industry. As schools do not have the capacity, industry and VET provider collaborations will be important. The subjects have to be carefully planned and structured and authentic to current industry practice. The 9 subjects are a pathway into industry. They provide experiences to help students evaluate their fit to the industry.
Most schools currently have transition programmes exampled by Gateway and trades academies. There are a few school-based academies as well. Some also offer hospitality/tourism options. The industry-led subjects will be complentary to the existing programmes. Teachers will have to be supported to upskill or attain understanding of the industries, also to network and form relationships to bridge school and industry.
Industry is now able to contribute to the curriculum being developed. This is an opportunity to showcase industries and have a say in how novices are introduced to the career pathways and opportunities. Schools may not be able to offer all 9 subjects. Now is the time to make contact to support schools so that are able to work out which subjects they have expertise from their local community. Lots of work needs to be done before curriculum is ready. Localisation/regionalisation is also important to reflect the specific flavour of each industry across different schools.
What will be the outcome in 2033 from this initiative. Conference participants provided perspectives, ideas and challenges.
The two international keynotes, Dr. Tom Bewick and Dr. Caroline Smith provided brief reviews of conference learnings.
Then a short session where the five people who were also at the first NZVET research forum in 2004 spoke. They were Jeremy Baker, Dr. Gemma Piercy, Greg Durkin, Dr. Nicky Murray and myself. Each spoke on the importance of the forum and the community of practice formed through the years the forum has convened.
A Pororaki then closed the conference.
