An hour or so spent at an Education and Employment Awareness Day this month could be life-changing for those who attend it.

Hastings District Council’s Camberley Community Centre is hosting the two-hour awareness day, with education providers, businesses and employment advisors all on site. The purpose of the day is to provide an opportunity for parents, caregivers and those not in education or employment, to discuss with agencies, providers and employers their individual needs to enable them to engage with education and employment.

Among them will be Ministry of Education staff, to answer questions about education; including kōhanga reo and early childhood services, primary, secondary and tertiary education. Sharon Blount, Ministry of Education principal advisor secondary and tertiary said it was about removing barriers to education and sparking ideas for post-school employment.

For those wanting to look broadly at continuing education, there will be representatives from organisations including EIT, Future Col, Workforce Development and Turanga Ararau.

Companies on site will include Turners and Growers, Russell Roads, Watties AWF and Trade Staff, while Police, Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga will also have representatives at the day.

Ms Blount said it may be that youth have tertiary education questions, questions about the types of work they could consider, or family members may have questions about schooling for their youngsters. “Things like what age their pre-schoolers can be enrolled at a specific early childhood service; or that they have issues with their child attending primary school. We are here, in a safe community environment, to answer questions and provide whatever support we can.”

Council’s social and cultural development committee chairman and former school principal Malcolm Dixon, says Council strongly supports initiatives that help youngsters make the most of their time at school and broadens the horizons of youth considering tertiary education or job opportunities.

“There are so many options, and sometimes events like these can trigger an interest they may never have thought of. For the average person, a quarter of their adult life will be spent at work, so if we can help guide them into fulfilling work that enables them to support themselves or a family into the future, and contribute to society, that is an excellent outcome.”

The Education and Employment Awareness Day will be held at the Camberley Community Centre, Kiwi St, Hastings, from 11am to 1pm, February 13.

ENDS

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