Rachel Simpson: Business NZ Education Specialist on the need to update vocational skills and training

Many Kiwis are studying or training in skills that aren't needed in the job market. 

That's the warning from Business NZ as the Government reviews New Zealand's vocational education system. 

The lobby groups say graduates are being held back from gaining employment because they've trained in the wrong area. 

They're calling for an industry-led vocational system, with more focus on work-based training and relevant, up-to-date skills. 

Business NZ Education Specialist Rachel Simpson told Heather du Plessis-Allan that many of the current qualifications and programmes haven’t been changed in years. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now there is concern that we're going to have some
young people coming out of polytechnics with the wrong skills.
There's a group of organizations that represent dairy farmers and mechanics,
roading and infrastructure companies and so on, and they've warned
the government that their planned education changes are going to
muck up vocational training. Rachel Simpson is Business New Zealand's
education expert and with us right now. Hey, Rachel, hi, okay,

(00:21):
so tell me what the problems because it seems to
me that what's going on here is that under the changes,
the government wants to decide what the kids learn, but
you guys want the industry experts to decide.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Is that right? Yeah? So we're on industry leading, government
enabled system that's the hallmark of all the world leading
vocational systems. So we're recommending some changes to the laws
that are gone through Parliament at the moment to achieve that.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Are you actually seeing what the curriculum is and that
it is potentially going to give them the wrong skills
or you're just anticipating that it may be a problem.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well, we've been hearing the feedback from employers for a
while that the skills that are being produced are not
matching what they need on the job. And if you
have a look at the perking as in your report,
we can see forty percent of the politic graduates aren't
getting work after they get the qualifications and the number
of those completing their apprenticeships are going down.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Okay, So what kind of skills are they're not getting
that they should be getting?

Speaker 2 (01:16):
So they need stuff that is current and relevant. So
at the moment, a lot of our qualifications and the
programs haven't changed for years. If you think about the
changes in the workforce over the last few years, the
skill system needs to keep up with it.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Do all of these industry bodies actually have the time
to be involved in designing the curriculum.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
The industry bodies are the ones that know what skills
are needed. They don't need to be education experts to
be able to get that into the education system. And
if they do, then that's assigned. There's a problem with
the education system.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Is there also a risk? One of the arguments against
letting the industry bodies do is that it's two short
term focused, right the industry bodies that the employers are
going to be focused on getting the kids to give
them the skills they need right now, whereas perhaps somebody
who's designing, who's an expert designing a curriculum, would look
ahead at the skills coming down the pipeline that are needed.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, people don't stop learning once they get on the job.
What we need is for them to get the skills
to get the job, and then to make sure that
work based learning is really good quality and continues to
teach them. The skills is the need and the workface changes.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Good stuff, Rachel Good Luckily, that's Rachel Simpson, Business New
Zealand Education Experts. For more from the mic Asking Breakfast,
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