Training down the drain – plumbing apprentices short-changed

Apprentices say some of their professional training has not gone ahead, even though the government has allocated more than $1 billion to the program. Fee-free is coming to an end, and some of the plumbing, gas and drain fitter (PGD) trainees who have to start paying say they are behind on their training because classes haven’t taken place.

“I feel like the last 12 months have been wasted and in short I want to know where all the funding has gone?” a second-year apprentice told 1News.

He said his education provider held only one block course this year when it should have been three.

“I am seven months behind on my education and no one at my provider, Te Pūkenga or the Tertiary Education Commission has been able to give me a straight answer to my questions about how or if I can finish my education in time – all I have, are excuses about Covid delays and the Te Pūkenga transition.

He said his courses this year were not scheduled due to the lack of tutors and the transition from the Skills Org to Te Pūkenga.

“Basically, at our first block course this year, they made noise about how they were going to start having enough instructors to run classes, then my skills manager left and I wasn’t assigned a new one in ages.”

He was later assigned a skills manager after he complained.

“But I had her for about two months and she told me that block classes had been canceled due to the Te Pūkenga transition and she was stepping down from her role and I would be getting a new manager in early October.”

So far, the trainee has only completed one block course for the whole of 2022.

Where did the funding go?

CEO of Te Pukenga, Peter Winder.

The Department of Education told 1News that government funding goes to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), which then directs it to education providers to deliver learning.

However, it is unclear where the funds went if the training was not adequately implemented.

“It is estimated that 1250 trainees at PID have completed their apprenticeship,” said Greg Wallace, Managing Director of Master Plumbers, Gasfitters & Drainlayers NZ.

“This means they will not complete the normal five and a half years of training as they have not been able to complete their 18 block courses and then their state degree. For apprentices, this means that they cannot move to the tradesman, which reduces their ability to work.”

Education Secretary Chris Hipkins blames the pandemic for slowing learning, but with the easing of restrictions in 2022, the number of block courses has still not been adequately provided for some.

Skills Org managed the introduction of the training until October of that year when Te Pūkenga took over. Te Pūkenga is the result of a merger of the 16 Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics and the 11 Transitional Industry Training Organizations (TITOs).

Wallace said Skills’ transition to Te Pūkenga was “appalling”.

“But essentially, they’re trying to tweak a broken system, rather than working with industry to provide long-term solutions. If they don’t take a more strategic approach, we’ll be having these bad-training talks for industry for years to come. ” he said.

“She [Te Pūkenga ] the issues were handed out, but they also knew about the issues as several Skills employees were transferred to Te Pūkenga. In my view, the transition was not well thought out and issues were not addressed prior to the transition.”

Wallace also told 1News that there is a teacher shortage, but there’s still no answer on where the PID sector’s slice of the $1.6 billion pie went.

Te Pūkenga boss Peter Winder was a bit more diplomatic:

“In October, the Skills Org transferred some of their industry training roles to us, including those for plumbing, gas installation and drainage. This transition was more complex for Te Pūkenga than others, such as BCITO, which represented the upswing and shift of an entire organization.

“Skills Org’s transition was also one of TITO’s most recent moves, and its timing has presented us with a number of challenges, including setting fees for 2023.”

He said PID trainees were “particularly affected during Covid by the inability to complete the required block courses and no alternative training and assessments were offered as part of their training programme”.

“Auckland’s protracted lockdown due to Covid-19 restrictions was a key factor affecting the ability to offer and attend block courses. Many trainees should have already completed their training, but were unable to do so through no fault of their own. We will work with this group to ensure they can complete the block courses required to earn their qualification as quickly as possible.

“We recognize the industry’s urgent need for a skilled workforce and we know our need to support learners who have faced significant disruption. We are working with our campuses across the country to remove bottlenecks from blocking courses and ensure learners and employers will be able to plan a schedule of blocking courses for 2023 before the end of the year,” Winder said.

Missed opportunity

Wallace said it was a missed opportunity given the lack of PGD trade in New Zealand.

“We estimate with MBIE that we are missing between 3000 and 3500 skilled workers in our sector in New Zealand,” he said.

“In a recent Master Plumbers survey, the number one problem is finding qualified staff. At times, more than 2,000 trainees were simply miserable because of the longevity or delays in block courses.”

Wallace is frustrated with the missing delivery.

“Master plumbers spend an incredible amount of time advocating for the industry and it’s like banging our heads against a brick wall. We need a comprehensive strategic approach that might include creating a center of excellence and consolidating some of our ridiculous training providers we currently have across New Zealand,” Wallace said.

Education minister blames Covid

Chris Hipkin.

Hipkins is optimistic but cannot explain the non-delivery of training in the lockdown of 2022 – and still attributes it to Covid.

“I am aware that some trainees are taking longer to complete their training due to delays related to Covid-19. This has nothing to do with the founding of Te Pūkenga, everything to do with lockdowns and restrictions caused by Covid-19.

“The founding of Te Pūkenga offers the opportunity to better dovetail in-company and external training so that, for example, vocational preparation courses and block courses can be better tailored to the needs of apprentices in the future.

“I am confident that Te Pūkenga is working hard to support this plumbing, gas fitter and drain layer education and is working with industry leaders to validate qualifications to ensure they match actual needs,” Hipkins said.

Wallace said there were problems long before Covid.

“For the minister to blame Covid is not entirely true – Covid has exacerbated the problems at the polytechs but we had pre-Covid delays which have not been addressed.

“I also suggest that the mental health and well-being of the trainees were not considered. At a time when they need the most support, many of them have been left out to dry,” Wallace said.

Neither Winder nor Hipkins could say where the money to fund Targeted Training and Apprenticeship went this year in the PGD training industry.

“That’s a great question,” Wallace said.

“We don’t have a clear answer to that yet, but we asked TEC’s question.”

TEC answers

Water pipe under kitchen sink.

Gillian Dudgeon, the TEC’s deputy chief executive of delivery, told 1News that a cross-sector group is working through recommendations from a report by Waihanga Ara Rau – the sanitation sector’s qualification and standard-setting authority – including developing new programs that provide more flexible ways of delivering Apprentices support progress in their training.

“The focus initially is to ensure that the apprentice plumbers who have been negatively impacted during Covid are able to complete their training as quickly as possible. Te Pūkenga has said it is working with affected students to support them and get them through their education.”

Dudgeon said the TTAF is a short-term support scheme to encourage new trainees to join those industries. “Before, trainees and/or employers funded their courses or took fees for free.

“Many trainees who started under TTAF could be eligible for two more years of free training through the toll-free program,” she said, adding that trainees can find out on the toll-free website.

She made it clear that TEC only funds training that is delivered and says it has the power to reclaim funding from training providers when training is not delivered.

“More than 240,000 learners have been supported by TTAF. This includes 4,575 plumbing trainees with a delivery value of $16.8 million. The delivery value includes mandatory course fees, mandatory student service fees, course fees, and delivered program fees. “

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