Building success in infrastructure industry training

Tertiary Education Minister Michael Cullen tonight paid tribute to nearly 40 Works Infrastructure employees who graduated with a National Certificate in Civil Infrastructure.

Dr Cullen presented the certificates to 37 employees from the Wellington region at a ceremony in the Beehive this evening. The training programme is a partnership between Works Infrastructure and InfraTrain, the industry training organisation for the infrastructure industry.

"For Works Infrastructure, the certificate means their worksites are safer and more productive. The graduates have gained skills that will help improve the overall skill levels across the infrastructure industries," Dr Cullen said.

"Improving our infrastructure is vital for economic transformation so we need to have the right mix of knowledge and skills in the workforce to achieve our priorities.

"The Labour-led government is committed to improving New Zealand’s infrastructure, including roading. We are spending an extra $1.3 billion over the next five years to accelerate major projects. $13.4 billion in total will be spent on infrastructure over this period. That’s a lot of roads and bridges to build."

Dr Cullen noted that the infrastructure industry was not one that has traditionally involved itself in training, and there has not been a requirement for formal qualifications in the past.

InfraTrain had changed this perception and now offered 64 different diplomas and certificates. This year more than 2000 trainees were working towards qualifications, including through the Modern Apprenticeship scheme.

"This certificate is a great example of employees, business and an industry training organisation working together.

"When Works Infrastructure first looked at setting up the national certificate, it sought ideas from employees about what skills and knowledge would be useful for the job, and these were included in the certificate.

"This collaboration underlines how I want to see tertiary education sector working in the future so we can be confident the outcomes for students, employers and industry are what New Zealand needs," Dr Cullen concluded.

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