Welcome to the ITF website
Industry training is all about meeting the skill needs of industry, helping people develop their careers and assisting New Zealand businesses and organisations to be more productive.On this site you can find out more about industry skill development and workplace learning, including the latest news, where to contact an ITO, and what industry training can do for you, whether you are an employer, already in work, or want to know what kinds of skills you might need to get into an industry.
You can also find out about events we are running, see photos of recent events, or more about us, the Industry Training Federation. Finally, if you want to know more, you can send us a message or find out how to contact us.
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Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 April
Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand
Registrations are now open to the NZ Vocational Education and Training Research Forum 2010, New Zealand’s largest event dedicated specifically to research on aspects of Vocational Education and Training.
Over the last seven years the forum has brought together people from across education, government and industry sectors - researchers, academics, postgraduate students, managers, and senior staff from tertiary institutions, industry training organisations, industry groups and government agencies.
Last year over 200 people from NZ and across the globe attended and the event sold-out well in advance.
More information, the full programme and how to register here
High Performance in ITOs - 2009 Report released
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The second report of the High Performance project delves further into the "quality dimensions" of ITOs to help Industry Training Organisations plan, reflect, and undertake self assessment as part of new quality assurance requirements. The results of the second ITO practices and models provides sector wide information about ITO activity and issues and can be used to support benchmarking activity.
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TEC releases misleading and partial industry training data
12 December 2009
The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has released misleading and partial data about the performance of Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) and industry trainees.
“The Commission’s release this week of incomplete data gives an inaccurate portrayal of the achievement of ITOs and their trainees,” Industry Training Federation Executive Director Jeremy Baker said today.
“ITOs welcome robust discussion about performance in tertiary education, including their own performance. Every part of the sector can do better. But it is vital that all of the relevant information is released, so that the public can make an accurate assessment of the relative performance of different parts of the system. Releasing partial and incomplete information does not help this process, and is undermining of the achievements of industry trainees and employers,” Mr Baker said.
TEC releases misleading and partial industry... (243KB) ITPs and ITOs resources and finances compared.pdf (51KB) Industry Training Achievement - October 2009.pdf (239KB)
Identifying and Reporting the Value Added from Training Sector Report 1: Extractives
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The Industry Training Federation, with the Extractives ITO, the Horticulture ITO, the Seafood ITO, and the Service Industries Training Alliance (represented by the Hospitality Standards Institute) is currently undertaking a project examining how to capture and report data on the contribution of training to firm performance. Funded through the Tertiary Education Commission's Encouraging and Supporting Innovation Fund, the Identifying and Reporting the Value Added from Training project involves trialling in other sectors a methodology used by the Agriculture ITO to identify the impact of their training. The Project Team has contracted Agriculture Services Limited to undertake this work. The first public output from this project - a report applying the RVA methodology to the Extractives Sector - is now available. Future outputs will include corresponding reports for the other participating ITOs, and a capstone report discussing evidence around the value added by training. Download a copy of the Extractives sector report: Sector Report 1: Extractives (1260KB)
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Submission on draft Tertiary Education Strategy
The Industry Training Federation has released its submission on the draft Tertiary Education Strategy 2010-2015.
The ITF and ITOs are calling for the final version of the Strategy to have a greater focus on putting skills to use and on lifting the relevance of skills to meet the needs of the economy and the labour market.
This would tie tertiary education and training to other core government work like the Prime Minister’s Job Summit and the 2025 Taskforce looking at ways to improve productivity.
The Federation’s submission also wants the strategy to better reflect the needs and desires of the 60% of people in tertiary education and training that are over 25.
Assessment of Learning in the Workplace
A background paper
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The ITF Research Network - a group of ITO staff with research-focused roles and interests - is currently running a project examining the different structures that ITOs use to manage assessment in the workplace. This project is supported by the National Project Fund of Ako Aotearoa: The National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence. The NZ Council for Educational Research has been contracted to undertake this research on behalf of the Network. The first publication from this project is an exploration of selected relevant literature on learning that is assessed in the workplace, and specifically:
This publication will be followed by a report outlining the different models and approaches to workplace assessment used by ITOs, and a 'good practice' guide that will assist ITOs in maintaining effective workplace assessment structures. Download a copy of the background paper:
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Matching Supply and Demand
Industry-led vocational education and training
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The ITF has released a major report which identifies how better matching can occur between industry-related vocational education and training and the needs of industries and their firms and workers. The report identifies that tertiary education and training can be divided into three broad categories:
The report suggests that each of these types of learning requires different approaches to matching what is needed with what is supplied. The report focusses on industry-related vocational education and training, which accounts for around 56% of all tertiary education activity, but makes suggestions for dealing the other two categories.
Download a copy of the report:
Download a copy of a supporting report by BERL:
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ITF Conference 2009
Skills That Add Value
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The ITF Annual Conference 2009 was held on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 July, at Te Papa in Wellington. The theme of this year's Conference was "Skills That Add Value". The conference featured 4 international speakers from the UK, the Netherlands and Australia, as well as more than 10 practical sessions demonstrating how industry, employees and the nation can get more out of industry training and workforce learning. Follow the link below for conference presentations and audio files from keynote presentations (being updated daily): |
Industry-led Skill Development
Keeping NZ open for business
Industry training organisations have identified the importance of maintaining levels of investment in on-job and workplace training during the recession, if New Zealand is to be able to recover and grow its way out of the current situation.
ITOs have put together a package of proposals in their latest report - "Industry-led Skill Development - Keeping NZ open for business".
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Industry-led Skill Development: Industry-led Skill Development - Keeping NZ Open for Business
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Investing in Skills and Productivity
Briefing for the Incoming New Zealand Government
December 2008
The Industry Training Federation is urging the new Government to pay more attention to industry training in response to the economic downturn.
In its Briefing to the Incoming Government, released today, the Federation says enhanced industry training is essential to help New Zealand through the short term economic downturn and position the country well to meet its long term challenges.
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Investing in Skills and Productivity:
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ITOs and the Senior Secondary School
A Policy Framework
September 2008
The Industry Training Federation has developed a discussion document focusing on the engagements between the industry training system and the senior secondary school.
- ITOs and the Senior Secondary School (2982KB)
Election Statement on Industry Training
Investing in Skills and Productivity
16 July 2008
The Industry Training Federation today released an election statement with recommendations to all parties contesting this year’s general election. It focuses on changes needed to ensure a high quality industry system and its role in lifting the skills and productivity levels of New Zealand workplaces.
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Investing in Skills and Productivity Election Statement 2008
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See coverage of the election statement on TVNZ Breakfast: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/484445/1921976
Video: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/1923069
NZ Skills Strategy Action Plan 2008
22 July 2008
The NZ Skills Strategy Action Plan 2008 was released by the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, at the Industry Training Federation's Annual Conference in July. The ITF has called upon all political parties in this year's electionto implement the NZ Skills Strategy as part of its Election Statement -"Investing in Skills and Productivity".
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NZ Skills Strategy - Action Plan 2008
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Survey confirms business is driving skill development
14 July 2008
New Zealand businesses are spending greater amounts to upskill their staff, according to the latest Skills and Training Survey.
Respondents to the 2007 survey, run by Business NZ and the IndustryTraining Federation, spent a median of 2.5 per cent of their payroll ontraining, up from 2.0 per cent in the 2003 results.
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Skills and Training Survey 2007
(with Business NZ)
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Nationwide Industry Training at Work Day
1 May 2008
Politicians and other community leaders discoveredone of the country’s hidden gems as part of Industry Training at WorkDay on 1 May 2008.
The day was organised by the Industry Training Federation (ITF) to raise awareness and understanding of industry training and workplace learning.
See photos and further details of Industry Training At Work Day.
Report Highlights the Importance of Skill Use
23 April 2008
A new report produced jointly by the Industry Training Federation and the Department of Labour has highlighted the importance of focusing explicitly on how skills are used, so that businesses and workers can get the most out of training:
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The Skills Productivity-Nexus
(with the Department of Labour)
Connecting Industry Training and Business Performance
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