auckland scoop co nz » Annual Art Show Popular With Collectors Returns For Another Year scoop.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scoop.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rise of the tradies: Record numbers sign up as apprentices
25 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM
7 minutes to read
Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation students on a tour in Havelock North. Photo / Paul Taylor
Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation students on a tour in Havelock North. Photo / Paul Taylor
More school leavers are training to become builders, electricians and plumbers: apprenticeships in traditional trades have nearly doubled in the past year.
Data from the Ministry of Education shows the number of new apprentices under the age of 18 jumped from 460 in the six months from August 2019 to 810 for the same period in 2020.
This is supported by Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) data for enrolments in tertiary and vocational study that shows a 17.6 per cent increase from December 2019 to December 2020. The total numbers went from 45,155 in 2019 and 57,035 in 2020.
However, they said students were already feeling anxious after just two-and-a-half days of disruption to studies. There were concerns about how students would cope with disruption so early into the school year and what it could mean for the year ahead. Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SPANZ) president Deidre Shea and Onehunga High School principal acknowledged that a lockdown so early in the year was challenging for students, particularly those without internet access or devices at home. This was also the case for Birdwood School, in Rānui, West Auckland.
LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF
Papatoetoe High School principal Vaughan Couillault talks to Stuff reporter Troels Sommerville, as queues continue at the school s pop-up testing centre.