The Rural Contractors NZ Board has backed a proposal for the industry to establish a National Training Council.
RCNZ CEO Andrew Olsen says his board’s approval last month gives the green light to the initiative which could be the start of a more comprehensive approach to training in the sector.
“We have a lot of competing training and while there are a lot of good people doing their best, there are varying outcomes that don’t serve the primary sector as a whole very well.”
He says spray contractors have had the benefit of a lifetime of effort to develop a training regime from a now retired contractor but other strands within the sector have struggled to get beyond teaching the basic skills.
“It’s a time of change in vocational education so there’s an opportunity to refocus our efforts and look to develop the best training options and be future-focused for all of our members.”
Andrew Olsen says, currently, rural contractors themselves spent much of their time guiding and upskilling new recruits.
“Our board recognised that last year and put some funding, along with MPI, into supporting the development of the HanzonJobs training initiative which sees trainees record their work activities on an app.
“It gives trainees and their employers a physical record of the range of tasks they can do and how much time they’ve spent doing them.”
This and other training, including some provided at ITO level and courses run by polytechnics and other tertiary providers, need to be able to fit into a more comprehensive record of achievement.
Andrew Olsen says, with his board now backing a National Training Council he wants to develop support among contractors, training organisations and government agencies.
“The government has made clear that if our efforts to bring in skilled workers from overseas are to have any success once Covid conditions ease, they must be matched by a focus on training Kiwis.
“We’ve worked up short courses and on-the-job training but this now needs to be stitched into a model which gives trainees a qualification that sets them up for life rather than one which often just really gets them started on skills development.
“As technology develops, we will need increasingly-skilled people to ensure rural contracting can meet modern farming demands and I think we are signalling we are up to the challenge.”
