Marketised education focus of National's policy

19 June 2007

Short-term, marketised education the focus of National's trades training policy

There are ominous signs that once more the National Party focus is on the short-term needs of businesses rather than the needs of young New Zealanders in their trade training proposals announced yesterday.

National Party leader John Key wants to encourage more trade training in schools to address the shortage of skilled workers for New Zealand companies while at the same time engaging teenagers who are leaving school without the meaningful qualifications and skills they need to enter the workforce.

On the face of it this is a sensible, commonsense approach. The grave danger however is that it is once again their policy puts business before people.

National took the same approach in the 1990s which resulted in the destruction of apprenticeships in favour of "on-job training". The result was a generation of young New Zealanders who lost the opportunity to develop broad-based, portable skills as provided in the old apprenticeship scheme. Instead the training they receive is narrowly based to meet the needs of a particular job within a particular company.

Ten years on and the generation which left school under National in the 1990s is now stuck in low-quality, low-skilled, low-paid jobs.

At the same time there is a huge shortage of skilled New Zealanders which is being felt right across the economy.

John Key should have begun his announcement with an apology for this past policy disaster. Instead it seems that once more their policy is based around short-term, marketised education to meet the needs of businesses.

Young New Zealanders don't need any more of the 1990s. We already have too much of it cemented into existing government policy.

ENDS

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