Skills for Good - December 2021: - Meri Kirihimete, fully funded enrolments continue, and more

Tēnā koutou

In my Christmas message last year, I reflected on what a year 2020 had been, and at that time, I don’t think any of us had any idea how 2021 would play out. It has certainly been another year of challenges, and we fully appreciate that this is truly felt within the sectors that we serve at Careerforce.

When I reflect back on the year at Careerforce, and with the backdrop of a myriad of Covid19 related challenges, I am pleased with the progress we have achieved. Over a number of measures, we have improved results for our learner outcomes, and we will be continuing to focus on this in 2022. On behalf of our sectors, we also developed and launched the Life Changing Careers campaign - which is about improving perceptions of care and support roles, and attracting greater diversity and resilience into the workforce. It is our hope that this campaign will continue into 2022, and as per the story below, we currently have a funding proposal in with the Tertiary Education Commission. 2021 also saw the transition of our standard setting responsibilities to Toitū te Waiora and Ringa Hora, the new Workforce Development Councils for Careerforce sectors.

Next year will be a landmark one for us as we transition into Te Pūkenga in late 2022. I would like to assure you that our absolute commitment is that this will be done with minimal, if any, disruption to you, our employers, and our learners. As we transition, we will still be Careerforce as you know us, and our fullest expectation is that this will remain the case for some time with only positive additions to the support we offer.

As a tripartite and employer-led training model, I would like to acknowledge all your hard mahi throughout the year, and for the wonderful partnerships we share with so many of you. I sincerely hope that you and your staff get to enjoy some festive spirit as we close in on Christmas, and can restore your energy banks as we head into 2022.

Ngā mihi nui

Jane Wenman
Careerforce Chief Executive

The 19-year-old from Takapau is an Activities Assistant at Waipukurau’s Woburn Rest Home. It’s a role she never knew even existed just over a year ago.

“It didn’t even occur to me that there would be an activities role in rest homes, even though it does make sense now that I’ve done it.”

Nika lifts the satisfaction of her residents by trialling all sorts of activities that they’d never done before. There’s been a Mexican fiesta, teddy bear tea parties and even water balloon fights.

Across 2021, most Careerforce programmes have had zero enrolment fees, and this has been due to a combination of the Government’s Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) for eligible programmes, and Careerforce choosing to waive enrolment fees on some non-eligible programmes.

TTAF is currently funded to run until December 2022, but this fund only covers the portion of the enrolment up until this date. For example, if a learner enrols in a Health & Wellbeing Level 3 programme in October 2022 and which has an expected duration of 12 months, TTAF will only cover the portion of the enrolment from October to December (25%). The Careerforce Board has made the unanimous decision that Careerforce will cover the residual enrolment fees, and we will not be looking to charge partial enrolment fees (on a pro-rata basis) for any TTAF-eligible enrolments across 2022, as some other ITOs are. This is great news for our cash-restricted sectors, and we hope continuing to remove a significant impediment to training for our employers and learners will continue the achievement of workplace based programmes and qualifications.

The Careerforce Board has also made the decision to extend free enrolment of the Level 5 Diploma in Business (Leadership & Management), amounting to a continued saving of $2,000 for each enrolment.

Since 1 December 2021 access to the Careerforce resource Library is now only via a secure login on the Careerforce iportal site.

The Careerforce Library of resources has been transitioned from the Careerforce website to Careerforce's iportal. We've contacted trainees, to explain how they can continue to access the resources using their new iportal login, and so far 865 trainees have already registered. We ask that you remind your staff (trainees) about this in case they have yet to register.

As employers, for those of you who don't currently have an iportal login, you too will need to set up a login to access the resources. To do this, simply go to the iportal homepage here and click on 'Register a new account'. You can download a helpful user guide to see some detailed instructions enabling you to access learning resources.

As we have previously shared with you, the first stage of the Life Changing Careers campaign recently finished up. This campaign is all about building greater diversity into the care and support workforce, and we all recognise that this needs to be a multi-year journey. As a result, and in partnership with the newly formed Workforce Development Council, Toitu te Waiora, we have submitted a further proposal to the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC) Covid-19 Response Fund for 2022 campaign funding.

TEC have recognised the success of the campaign from a digital metrics perspective (website visitation, digital impressions), but as part of their consideration for additional funding, have asked for any early evidence that the campaign is proving effective during actual recruitment. We have certainly received positive anecdotal comments that the campaign is working, but we are hoping that you can support our further response to TEC via completing a very short survey.

All respondents will go into the draw to win one of 5 Careerforce gift hampers comprised of a work satchel, reuseable face masks, hand sanitisers, and a few sweet treats! But hurry, due to TEC response time constraints, the survey will only remain open until Monday 20 December, 10am. To provide feedback, simply click the button or follow the link below.

The last day for enrolments into the New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Level 4) Advanced Support programme is 31 December 2021.

During the qualification review, the sector strongly recommended that this 70-credit programme be significantly enhanced to reflect the increasingly complex needs of people being supported, and to enhance the leadership responsibilities of employees at this level. Therefore, all new enrolments received after 31 December 2021 will be enrolled in the New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing (Level 4) Advanced Care and Support 120-credit programme, which launched earlier this year.

If you have staff who wish to do the 70-credit programme, please ensure they have been enrolled before 31 December 2021.