Page 12 - HW September 2020

hard news
Construction and the rst Centre of Vocational Excellence
THE SUCCESSFUL APPLICANT which will lead one of the first two Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) has now been announced.
The Construction & Infrastructure Centre of Vocational Excellence (ConCoVE) is one of the radical new vocational education system’s first Centres of Vocational Excellence
to be established and will focus on how construction-related vocational education can be applied to help fix the industry’s longstanding skills challenges.
Each CoVE operates as part of
the vocational education system, working closely with Workforce Development Councils, Regional
Skills Leadership Groups and the New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology (NZIST).
The successful ConCoVE consortium comprised no less than 42 members, including the Construction Sector Accord, MIT, Unitec, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Ara Institute of Canterbury, BCITO, The Skills Organisation, New Zealand Construction Industry Council, Vertical Horizonz and Connexis.
ConCoVE will initially undertake five key projects:
1. Disruption – Preparing industries
to manage disruptions to the nature of work brought about by new technologies and develop training solutions.
2. Learning Framework – Reform entry-level training to decrease the time it takes workers to become engaged in meaningful employment
3. Retention – Improve workforce productivity and retention by
developing career support services including training, mentoring and networking.
4. Diversity – Provided tested strategies and models for stakeholders to grow workforce diversity, particularly
in relation to Māori, Pasifika and women.
5. Sustainability – Help the industry respond to increasing demand
for environmentally sustainable practices.
ConCoVE will be hosted at Manukau Institute of Technology and will involve industry representatives, researchers, providers and other relevant groups working together to share best practice and knowledge.
The other newly announced CoVE is for the primary sector.
www.constructionaccord.nz
10 NZHJ | SEPTEMBER 2020
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