Regional Education and Job Summit Proposed

Training Nelsonians in Nelson for Nelson jobs

Mayoral Candidate Aldo Miccio proposes a Regional Education and Job Summit be held at the beginning of 2011, to develop a strategy that aims to see more Nelsonians being trained in Nelson for Nelson jobs.

Miccio notes that an average of 27% of the region’s population aged 16 or over have no qualifications; slightly higher than the national average. The Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) is the region’s main tertiary provider and has experienced funding cuts of $3 million leading into 2011 after government changes to tertiary education funding. The government is also set to introduce performance targets which, if not met, could mean funding cuts of 5 per cent by 2012 for all tertiary providers.

“Solutions to education and jobs are needed quickly,” Miccio says. “I believe the Nelson City Council should stand up and act as a facilitator to assist, where possible, NMIT’s stated aim of building on collaborative relationships with other tertiary education providers, including universities, industry training organisations, and research organisations like the Cawthron Institute.

“Greater support of key industry sectors would help meet the end goal of attracting more people into courses and matching them to good local jobs that support economic development,” he says. “The region needs to get behind and use our locally based tertiary providers like the NMIT, so they can continue to offer quality choices to those who want to remain here to study. We should also be acutely aware that compared to the larger centres there are a limited number of secondary school leavers in Nelson each year, but there are many older adults who are looking for relevant options.

“Our key institutions shouldn’t be left to slowly disintegrate,” he says. “They deserve to be championed and their reputation as quality providers should be promoted widely nationally and internationally. Council can also help ensure central government better understands the importance of a stable tertiary education industry to our region.”

Meanwhile, Aldo Miccio’s goal would be for our growth industries, such as marine engineering, aquaculture and aviation, to be able to employ even more from a local base. He also believes Nelson should be thinking ahead towards the next wave of technology advances, such as fibre optic communications and solar.

“At the moment I understand that many of our employers inevitably seek graduates from out of town,” Miccio says. “It is about choice, so I believe we need to provide more choice of local candidates for our employers.

“There are many employers out there utilising our local talent well,” he says. “There is some amazing work being done in Nelson by local businesses, in terms of their support of the Modern Apprenticeship scheme and the relationship they already have with the NMIT and the EDA and others,” he says. “These businesses should be celebrated and held up as leading examples nationally, to further build our reputation as a great place to run a business with a flexible and skilled workforce.”

Making it happen:

• February 2011: Education Summit to be held with local education providers and key industries and interested parties, to develop a Regional Education and Job Strategy

• October 2011: Implementation of strategy recommendations to begin

What this means to residents:

• Improved training choices for our children, grandchildren and wider population
• An increase in quality local jobs for our NMIT graduates
• A more competitive job market compared with other centres
• A reputation for providing quality tertiary training in key sectors
• An increase in NMIT’s student base and funding
• More jobs at NMIT

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