Monday, 22 December 2008

Two cadets from Downer EDi Works recently received a $10,000 training scholarship in a ground-breaking scheme to increase the number of Māori entering the civil infrastructure industry.

The scheme, run in the Waikato region, was part of a pilot to replace some aspects of Māori Trade Training and was developed in partnership between Te Puni Kōkiri and InfraTrain New Zealand.

Cedric Crow of Hamilton and Matthew Smith of Paeroa received their scholarships at a presentation on Tuesday 16 December at the Asure Southern Cross Hotel in Hamilton.

The presentation was attended by key figures including Te Puni Kōkiri Regional Director Gail Campbell, InfraTrain Chief Executive John Wills and InfraTrain Regional Manager Tere Vickridge.

“This project has demonstrated, for Māori, some of the tangible outcomes such as recognised industry qualifications, actual workplace experience and the identification of long term career aspirations within the industry,” says Te Puni Kōkiri regional director Gail Campbell.

“The partnership between us and InfraTrain ensures that we support Māori to succeed as Māori and in this case in the civil infrastructure industry,” she says.

The aim of the scheme is not only to get Māori into the civil infrastructure industry, but to help them progress by attaining National Certificates and Diplomas through industry training and career planning.

The target is to get 75 Māori from a variety of backgrounds to take part. These ranged from people who were new to the industry with no qualifications (including school leavers), to people with industry experience who were ready for higher level study.

“Our congratulations go to Cedric and Matthew on their achievement. Both have shown a commitment to the civil infrastructure industry, and have already attained a number of National Certificates. Their employer, Downer EDi Works is making a significant investment in training, which is essential to build workforce productivity and skills,” says InfraTrain Regional Manager Tere Vickridge.

“InfraTrain and Te Puni Kōkiri have developed an excellent working relationship. The initiatives we have started will continue to gather momentum, and will continue to work together to build on the success of this project,” he says.

Interest in the scheme far exceeded the initial target, with 90 participants in total. As a result of this success InfraTrain and Te Puni Kōkiri will be in discussions about how this model will roll out across New Zealand in 2009.