Apprentice skill slump puts NZ out of big world contest

By STUART DYE


Trade skills are at such a low ebb that craftsman apprentices are no longer taking part in a leading international competition.

New Zealand has had a strong reputation over the 50-year history of WorldSkills, the Olympic Games of vocational training.

But in recent years performances have slumped and organisers have been unable to find trainees of a high enough standard to send to the competition.

Albie Lund, chief executive of Youth Skills, which administers trades competitions, said this indicated a worrying trend of forcing more apprentices through the system, but leaving them ill-equipped to enter the workforce.

People today complained they could not get a plumber, but the concern was that tomorrow they would get one who was not up to the job.

Mr Lund said New Zealand youngsters had consistently finished in the top third in the world until the mid-1990s.

"Unfortunately, these days we are not seeing evidence of that ability, which suggests training standards are slipping and our training outcomes are not keeping pace with the rest of the world."

Carpentry, plumbing, bricklaying and electrical wiring were the main areas of concern in the building industry, but the trend was also seen in other skill categories.

Plumbing was withdrawn from national competition in 1995, no carpenters had met the international standard since 1997 and the bricklaying category did not run last year.

Until 1997, New Zealand representatives in the world finals for electrical wiring had finished not lower than sixth and had won two silver medals and three diplomas of excellence. Since then no competitor had been good enough to qualify.


Mr Lund said apprentices were being trained on equipment used in manufacturing or assembly-line processes.

But they were not learning the traditional skills of a craftsman.

The Government said this week it was spending $8.9 million over four years to expand its Modern Apprenticeship programme to help ease the workforce skills shortages.

The scheme includes $5 million for industry training and $2 million for a pilot programme giving support for former beneficiaries who complete a training plan.

Mr Lund said the money would go some way to addressing the problem, but the funding needed to be targeted to ensure training was up to standard.

National's education spokesman, Bill English, said falling standards backed up evidence from employers that the quality of skill training in New Zealand was dropping.

The Government needed to focus on improving skills, not just "churning out an extra 1000 substandard apprentices", he said.

The SkillEX national finals are at Auckland Showgrounds this month, and teams from throughout the country will be competing.

The WorldSkills competition is in Helsinki, Finland, early next year.

Contestants from 39 countries will be competing in 40 disciplines.