Major overhaul of vocational training system outlined

New Zealand’s government is to make “far-reaching reforms” of vocational training a priority for 2019 and has pledged to make the system more responsive to industry demands.

In a national address on 8 February, prime minister Jacinda Ardern said that education minister Chris Hipkins would announce “options to reform polytechnics and the wider skills training sector to raise the status of vocational training as a career”.

“The government wants the vocational training system to be the backbone of our productive economy, and of our regions,” she said.