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News 

 

More skilled workers for West Auckland business

Lynne Pillay

27.07.2006

The growing Auckland economy needs more skilled workers for local businesses and the government has come to the party. So says Waitakere MP Lynne Pillay, announcing the latest local update on the government's job training programme.

"West Auckland had 224 Modern Apprentices at the end of March this year, up 5 per cent from 213 at the same time last year. We also have 1,617 industry trainees in structured workplace learning,"* said Lynne Pillay.

The local figures come in the light of Tertiary Education Minister Michael Cullen's announcement today that over two thousand Modern Apprentices have now completed their training.

The government's apprenticeship scheme is endorsed in an independent report also published today, showing success in increasing young people's workforce participation, and gaining a stamp of approval from business.

"Most employers surveyed said they would recommend the programme to young staff and other employers.

“The Modern Apprenticeship scheme, begun by the Labour-led government in 2000, is an outstanding New Zealand success story. Across the country, close to nine thousand young people are taking part, and two thousand have graduated to do their bit in transforming the New Zealand economy.

“The job training policy is producing the right mix of skilled workers for Auckland business productivity growth; and that means higher incomes and more secure futures for our families," said Lynne Pillay.

Budget 2006 allocated an additional $34.4 million over the next four years to expand the number of Modern Apprenticeships to 14,000 by December 2008.

* Eds: figures are snapshots as at 31 March, produced by the Tertiary Education Commission, and apply to job trainees working in Waitakere City Council area. An independent evaluation of Modern Apprentices and the latest Industry Training statistics are available at www.tec.govt.nz.

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