Budget offers more cash to buy skills

By SIMON HENDERY

The Government will spend an extra $56 million over four years in a bid to curb the shortage of skilled labour.

The money will be used to buy about 17,400 more industry training places, the Minister responsible for tertiary education, Steve Maharey said yesterday.

The latest New Zealand Institute of Economic Research quarterly survey of business opinion found that 44 per cent of businesses were finding it difficult to get skilled labour, and 11 per cent said unskilled labour was hard to find. These figures were the highest in six years.

Mr Maharey said the increased funding built on $23 million allocated in last year's budget and took the Government's total investment in industry training to $448.9 million over the next four years.

Up to $1 million of the new money this year will go towards a new technology training project.

"We want to increase employees' access to learning through the use of new learning technologies, such as computer-based learning," Mr Maharey said.

The funding boost would ease the skills shortage in the economy and contribute to the Government's goal of developing an inclusive knowledge society.

And $2 million will be used to increase to 14,750 the number of youth training placements, with emphasis on literacy, numeracy and communication skills to long-term unemployed 16-17 year olds.

Meanwhile, universities said the Government's $36.9 million offer in the Budget to tertiary institutions if they freeze their fees was "woefully inadequate."

"Why the Government expects universities to accept such a paltry offer in return for holding 2002 tuition fees at this year's level defies the imagination," said vice-chancellors' committee chairman James McWha.

Acceptance of it would lead to a decline in university education standards.

The budget committed $40.6 million over four years to a contestable "Centres of Research Excellence Fund."

Mr Maharey said: "To have access to the fund, an institution will have to agree to stabilise its fees."

www.nzherald.co.nz/budget

Charts: