Education Minister Chris Hipkins has announced that two successful groups have been confirmed to establish the first two Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) – a Primary Sector CoVE and a Construction CoVE. The construction and primary sectors were chosen as the pilot CoVEs in response to the skills shortage and rapid technological changes happening in these sectors.
The Construction CoVE (ConCoVE) will be hosted at Manukau Institute of Technology’s new state of the art Tech Park. Members of the ConCoVE consortium include: Ara Institute of Canterbury, BCITO, Connexis, the Construction Sector Accord, E tū, Manukau Institute of Technology, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, the New Zealand Construction Industry Council, Unitec, and Vertical Horizonz.
Co-Chair of the consortium, Graham Burke says, “ConCOVE is a fantastic opportunity to look at the future world of work, while tackling some of the big issues we have grappled with for so long, such as growing the number of businesses who are actively training new entrants and improving the quality of that training.
“ConCOVE will be researching how to improve the retention of workers in the industry and assist with transitions through their career path both through advancement and changes brought about by technology.
“We will be studying diversity across the sector and improving career outcomes for Māori, Pacifica and women, and how vocational education can assist in meeting the governments goals in carbon reduction by embedding sustainable practices in training.”
Read Hon Chris Hipkins’ media release
