Schools report on trades training: could do better

When former coachbuilder Stewart Thompson took up teaching in the early-1990s, he was dismayed to find schools around the country were closing technical workshops.

"They were almost non-existent," he says. The message from the Ministry of Education was that students would need tertiary qualifications to get a job, and the curriculum was tilted towards academic pursuits, such as law and accountancy.

It was understandable, with the manufacturing and construction sectors in freefall after the opening-up of the economy and the sharemarket crash. The only glimmer on the horizon was the IT bubble.

But the schools' academic focus meant 30 per cent of children were leaving as failures, Thompson says. He could foresee a time when trades such as carpentry and welding would again be in demand.

In 1999, Howick College allowed him to run a furniture-making course for eight students. Five years on, the school has seven trades classes for about 140 Year 12 students.

"School actually matters to them now. They are keen and motivated instead of being in a holding pattern until they leave."

Thompson travels up and down the country advising schools how to set-up trades courses, encouraging principals and speaking at conferences.

He is helping to plan a new national certificate to cover four industries - furniture, joinery, boatbuilding and building construction. He says the NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) has made it easier for schools and industry to develop courses which meet labour market needs and give pupils something tangible.

A recent automotive trades expo at Howick attracted more than 300 pupils from the south-eastern suburbs, and two-thirds signed expressions of interest with employers.

Some pupils move directly to apprenticeships with local employers and the Army, others go on to polytechnic trades training.

Thompson rejects the theory that the education sector cannot anticipate future labour market needs and design courses to match.

"Industry and education has to come together. Schools aren't employment agencies but we need to do better at aligning schools to market demands."