Sharing best practice across industry training organisations is the goal of a new publication launched today by Associate Education (Tertiary Education) Minister Steve Maharey.

Mr Maharey this afternoon launched Leading Industry Training: Good Practice in Industry Training Organisations, published by the Industry Training Federation, at a forum attended by ITO chief exectutives. The guidelines focus on the activities of ITOs and aim to share leading examples of good and best practice amongst their peer educators.

Mr Maharey said that guidelines would greatly assist ITOs to focus on achieving high achievement rates and quality learning environments.

"A skilled workforce is vital to our economic growth, our standard of living, and our international competitiveness.

"New Zealand requires an industry training system that is closely aligned with industry and regional development, employment, education and training policies, so that it can respond very quickly to the challenges emerging in the labour market.

"I commend the Industry Training Federation for taking the iniative to produce Leading Industry Training. The Government is very happy, through support from NZQA, to have been associated with the compliation of these good and best practice examples.

"An efficient and responsive industry training system provides the most direct route for matching the skills demanded by an economy in the process of transformation. These guidelines are a key tool which ITOs can use to play their part in the process," Steve Maharey said.

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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.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>