March 21, 2019
ITOs demand longer consultation
A member of the Skills Active Industry Training organisation board says a one-week extension to the consultation period on changes to the sector is a joke and won't meet the treaty standard for crown actions affecting large numbers of Māori.
Des Ratima says Education Minister Chris Hipkins doesn't want to be seen to concede, so he has framed the extension to the six-week consultation as a response to the Christchurch terror attack.
He says the plan to amalgamate the 19 polytechs into a single vocational training organisation is about trying to fix a sick model.
It will come at the cost of major disruption to ITOs which have proven extremely effective in training Māori.
"Well that's not going to work, one because we are looking after over 140,000 apprentices throughout the country and there is no way the polytech sector can pick up that workload and continue to deliver at the level and quality we are currently and it's proven statistically that we're achieving," Mr Ratima says.
Skills Active has 50 percent Māori shareholding, so it has a case for a genuine treaty-based consultation.
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