Flags Up! For Taxi Training

Over 80 South Auckland Taxi Association (SATA) drivers will be awarded NZQA National Qualifications, at a special ceremony in Manukau on Friday. The New Zealand Road Transport & Logistics Industry Training Organisation (NZRT&L ITO) will also present graduates with individual Training Bonuses of $200 each. About 300 people will attend the ceremony as well as Government and Industry representatives.

SATA’s success reflects an increasing movement towards professionalising the Taxi Industry, something industry pundits and the public have long been waiting for.

Commentators such as the New Zealand Taxi Federation have criticized the deluge of untrained and ill-experienced operators entering the taxi ranks of the Nation’s major urban centres. Tim Reddish of the Taxi Federation says their proliferation “has lowered standards of customer service and damaged the professional face of the whole Taxi Industry”.

Auckland is infamous for this, and that’s why SATA contacted the NZ Road Transport & Logistics ITO requesting assistance to get their drivers qualified.

“We want to be different and not just another taxi company”, said Chris Ross, the General Manger of SATA.

Mr Ross said the NZRT&L ITO were very helpful, providing about $105,000 of training and assessment subsidies. “They also arranged training for, and supported our in-house assessors, advised our external training provider, and managed our qualifications through the NZQA registration process”, he said. On Friday night the ITO will also present individual training bonuses to graduates cumulatively totalling over $16,000.

Mr Ross said SATA’s success was not only good for industry, but also for the community. “A large percentage of our people have never been recognised with a qualification. We’ve arranged the graduation ceremony so their families, and especially their children, can attend and share their pride, and witness the example of their achievement”, he said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

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