1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:04,120
Speaker 1: Our agriculture industry claims the education system is letting it down.

2
00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:08,240
Speaker 1: Leaders from farming, forestry, horticulture and seafood have joined forces

3
00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,840
Speaker 1: to launch a bold new strategy. They're calling on government

4
00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:16,160
Speaker 1: to overhaul vocational education and save our economic future. Doctor

5
00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,960
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Heegue is the CEO of the New Zealand forest

6
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,759
Speaker 1: Owners Association and she's with me now. Good morning, Elizabeth,

7
00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,560
Speaker 1: good morning. Hey, where have all our skills young people gone?

8
00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:26,560
Speaker 1: What's going wrong here?

9
00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,400
Speaker 2: Well? I think our concern is the current model is

10
00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:36,559
Speaker 2: not really facilitating employers to do the kind of on

11
00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,440
Speaker 2: the job training that we need to be able to

12
00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,800
Speaker 2: do to keep a vibrant food and fiber workforce here

13
00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,559
Speaker 2: in New Zealand. And so we're calling on the government.

14
00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,360
Speaker 2: You know, we're in the midst of the vocational education changes.

15
00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,239
Speaker 2: Let's work together right now to have a system that

16
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,920
Speaker 2: prioritizes capability and not just credentials, and that focuses on

17
00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,480
Speaker 2: the impact of those learners on the economy.

18
00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,880
Speaker 1: Okay, So if this is going to be more employer

19
00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:02,440
Speaker 1: lead to the employees want to do.

20
00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:07,120
Speaker 2: This absolutely, I mean certainly I can speak to in forestry,

21
00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,560
Speaker 2: we've got a really high proportion of on the job training.

22
00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,000
Speaker 2: But we find right now that a lot of the

23
00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,920
Speaker 2: trainers and the employers are struggling with the level of

24
00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,520
Speaker 2: bureaucracy that they have to work through to do that training.

25
00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:22,959
Speaker 2: And so we'd really like, through the current reforms to

26
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,120
Speaker 2: get to a system that enables them to do the training. Obviously,

27
00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,280
Speaker 2: you need to have standards, but we don't need to

28
00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,560
Speaker 2: have a whole lot of red tape wrapped around those

29
00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,440
Speaker 2: educational standards, and we can get out there and make

30
00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:37,560
Speaker 2: sure that we're training people on the ground to do

31
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 2: what they need to do.

32
00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,560
Speaker 1: Okay, I'll get to the training in just a moment.

33
00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,360
Speaker 1: Are there enough lower level, lower entry level positions out

34
00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:45,000
Speaker 1: there as well?

35
00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,600
Speaker 2: Yeah? I think there are. I mean, we've got a

36
00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:50,720
Speaker 2: lot of work to do in the primary sector and

37
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:56,160
Speaker 2: obviously this year across the range of products that we

38
00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,240
Speaker 2: produce in New Zealand, you know, we're seeing growth in

39
00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,000
Speaker 2: a number of areas, and the government strategy is around

40
00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,520
Speaker 2: further growth. To do that, we're going to need the

41
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,640
Speaker 2: people to back that up, and that's going to require

42
00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,400
Speaker 2: that we're able to train those people. And I guess

43
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,040
Speaker 2: one of the concerns that we've had is some of

44
00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,840
Speaker 2: the models that have been proposed would look at like

45
00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:20,160
Speaker 2: the number of learners. In some cases, we need specialty

46
00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,400
Speaker 2: skills that aren't going to have a high number in say,

47
00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,920
Speaker 2: you know, a specific trade in the primary sector, but

48
00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,880
Speaker 2: that person is critical to the overall success of the team,

49
00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,040
Speaker 2: and so we need to be able to maintain some

50
00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:37,840
Speaker 2: of those credentials that may not have a high number

51
00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:40,480
Speaker 2: of bums on seats, so to speak, but that actually

52
00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,600
Speaker 2: have a really high impact on our overall ability to

53
00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:45,600
Speaker 2: achieve that growth in the primary sector.

54
00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:49,000
Speaker 1: And of course that's where the becomes more cost efficient

55
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:54,000
Speaker 1: to be learning on the job. Is it expensive to

56
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,640
Speaker 1: get trained? Is it accessible for a lower income earner

57
00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:59,040
Speaker 1: to get up skills in the sector?

58
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,440
Speaker 2: I think what we would like to do is work

59
00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,920
Speaker 2: with the government. It really depends on the qualification and

60
00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:08,520
Speaker 2: what we would like to do is work with the

61
00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:12,280
Speaker 2: government on that balance of the investment from the employer

62
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,480
Speaker 2: and the investment of the government. And I think some

63
00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,800
Speaker 2: of that right now. You know, some of the polytechnic

64
00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,360
Speaker 2: models haven't been very cost efficient, and I can understand

65
00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,560
Speaker 2: why the government was looking at reform of those. But

66
00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,840
Speaker 2: I think our concern is you could end up transferring

67
00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,720
Speaker 2: a lot of costs onto the employers if we don't

68
00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:36,040
Speaker 2: set up a really a really dynamic system that's able

69
00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,720
Speaker 2: to work effectively on the ground. And we've got some

70
00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,560
Speaker 2: ideas about how we could work with the government so

71
00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,960
Speaker 2: that we're getting the most out of both the industry

72
00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,400
Speaker 2: investment and learners and the public investment in learners.

73
00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,480
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, elizabeth're talking us through this. Love a

74
00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,800
Speaker 1: solution to a problem. It was doctor Elizabeth Haigue. There

75
00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,000
Speaker 1: for more Family Edition with Ryan Bridge.

76
00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,600
Speaker 2: Listen live to News Talks It be from five am weekdays,

77
00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:05,920
Speaker 2: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.