Scholarships incentive to help rebuild

Rebuilding on St Asaph Street in Christchurch. Photo / Geoff Sloan

Hundreds of scholarships for people to study different trades are set to ultimately help in the rebuilding of Christchurch.

A total of 300 tertiary scholarships will be granted to members of the Pacific Island community around the country, under the Pacific Trades Training Initiative.

Members of various Pacific Island churches - including the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa - have been targeted in the scheme and church ministers have come on board to help spread the word.

The scholarships provide a minimum of one year full-time study in pre-trade qualifications in level 3 and 4.

Courses offered include carpentry, plastering, plumbing, drain-laying, electronics, pipe-laying and landscaping.

The courses will be taught at the Wellington Institute of Technology, Whitireia NZ, the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Manukau Institute of Technology and Unitec in Auckland.

The aim is not only to eventually help in the rebuilding of Christchurch, but also to increase the number of Pacific people working in trades.

The initiative is part of the Government's $42 million Skills for Canterbury package, announced in the Budget last May.

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said at the time that it would mean up to 3000 more construction-related training places in Polytechnics in Canterbury, Auckland and Wellington.

A total of $6 million from the Skills for Canterbury package has been put aside for the Pacific Trades Training initiative.

The scholarships for those polytechnics in Wellington and Canterbury have already been announced this month.

A launch in Auckland is to go ahead today.