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The Extractive Industries Industry Training Organisation (Exito) hosted a forum for key representatives of the extractive industries in Wellington in March that will help set the direction of industry training for the next two to five years. By PHILLIPPA BOA, marketing and communications manager.
The result of significant research and stakeholder consultation, these plans form the backbone of industry training strategies for the next two to five years, fulfilling the legislative requirement under the Industry Training Act 1992 which requires Exito to provide ‘leadership within the industry on matters relating to skill and training needs’ by:
“We received a lot of positive feedback from the industry attendees and TEC representatives,” says Exito CEO Kevin Walker. “This milestone could not have been achieved without the guidance and input of the sector advisory groups who have made a major contribution to the planning process. This second round of consultation was crucial in obtaining wider industry input and approval for the plans.” In establishing the relevant training priorities, the plan was developed taking account of the Tertiary Education Strategy 2007 – 2012, the Statement of Tertiary Education Priorities 2008-2010, and industry specific research, surveys and analysis undertaken by Exito. Although a ‘living document’ that will be reviewed annually for currency, priorities and progress, the plans clearly articulate Exito’s approach to industry training over the next three years, which is a vital step to ensure ongoing confidence and investment from TEC. Following a brief introduction by Kevin Walker, Robyn Masters and Wendy Devine, the attendees got right down to business in sector-specific forums. The key objective of these forums was to review the current plan priorities which fall under four distinct headings of marketing, upskilling, training and assessment and leadership, to ensure that Exito is on the right track. Each of the sector groups worked together, often with robust discussion, to identify the top three priorities overall for their sector, and the outcomes from the day will drive Exito’s strategic direction for the next two to five years. All five sector groups came back together after the breakout sessions to report their findings in a plenary session, thus creating wider awareness of the issues across all of the industries. The extractive sector group identified the following key priorities: The need for training resources; the need to grow assessor human capital; and the need for ongoing research and development, with a need to provide leadership and strategic focus. “I think it was a really useful exercise,” says Warwick Leach of HG Leach, who is also a member of the Exito board. “It’s important that we, the industry, have an understanding of TEC requirements so that we can develop training strategies that meet these, while still fitting industry needs.” Although priorities differed slightly from sector to sector, there were some standout issues which came to the fore across the board, namely the need to: Promote industry training nationwide; develop career pathways; increase the pool of assessors and technical verifiers; and develop training resources. Additional priorities for Exito include the need to meet the TEC requirement of embedding literacy and numeracy principles into trainee resources and assessment tools. Some headway has already been made in this area, and initial feedback from TEC on the Exito proposals in this area is positive. The industry contributions were extremely valuable, and a huge vote of thanks goes out to all current SAG members and everyone who attended the forum. Feedback is now being collated to facilitate any final tweaking to the industry rraining plans. These will be re-printed (as required to include any changes) and then submitted to TEC, after which they will be distributed to all sector stakeholders. All companies listed on the Exito database will automatically receive a copy of the training plan and further copies are available by contacting: Phillippa Boa, at phillippa@exito.org.nz, or phoning 03 964 4713.
Q&M Vol.6 No.2 April-May 2009 |
The purpose of the forum was to present the proposed industry training plans for five key Exito sectors, namely extractive (quarrying and mining), drilling, gas, protective coatings, and resource recovery, and to seek feedback prior to submitting plans to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) at the end of March.