David Strong, Director Reform of Vocational Education

It’s been a busy time for RoVE and the wider vocational education sector over the last month. The release of new budget initiatives such as the $320 million Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund and the $380 million Apprenticeship Boost, will provide much needed support for New Zealand’s learners and employers. Today we announced the members of the new WDC interim Establishment Boards (iEB) who will be responsible for the formation of all six WDCs, and MBIE announced the members of 10 of the 15 new RSLGs.

I want to applaud the hard work of the teams involved in getting these interim organisations stood up so quickly. Also thank you to those who applied for the positions. It was an outstanding response from high quality candidates which made the selection process appropriately robust. I am confident those selected, representing diverse groups combining expertise and experience, will successfully move us forward to the next stages of establishment.

The rubber is really hitting the road as we move into Phase Two of the RoVE programme, what we refer to as the “Transition and Integration” phase. Officially starting on 1 July until December 2022, this phase is focused on:

• Establishing the six WDCs, including transitioning the standard setting functions from transitional ITOs into them and beginning to create a stronger industry voice
• Establishing the RSLGs and creating a regional voice
• Transitioning and integrating the arranging training functions from transitional ITOs into providers
• Establishment and running of the two pilot CoVES
• The NZ IST designing its future operating model for an integrated national network of provision
• Detailed design of the unified funding system and preparation for implementation

We have made good progress in setting up strong foundations to enable this work to succeed, including what is detailed in this newsletter. We are also aware of the nature of task we all have ahead of us. My primary message is we are doing this together, collaboratively.

I am also conscious we need to broaden and deepen our engagement with wider stakeholders, particularly iwi, industry and employers, and there will be more concerted effort in this space going forward.

Now that we can travel again, myself and others in the team will take some opportunities to meet sector representatives face to face. This includes some of our regular meetings and workshops.

We are looking forward to talking with more New Zealanders about the aspirations of RoVE and how we put learners at the centre of this new system, a system that delivers for unique needs of all learners and meets the needs of employers and industry.