Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning now country’s largest on-the-job training organisation as Primary ITO joins

Primary ITO’s 270 kaimahi (staff) join over 1200 kaimahi who have already transitioned into Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning from Competenz, Connexis, BCITO, MITO, ServiceIQ, Careerforce, HITO, and parts of Skills.

“Today is a significant milestone for vocational education in Aotearoa,” says Toby Beaglehole, Chief Executive of Te Pūkenga Work-Based Learning.

“Te Pūkenga’s network now has an unrivalled and unprecedented breadth and depth of on-the-job learning expertise and capability.

“We are excited to share the challenge ahead of providing integrated on-the-job and in the classroom learning to support learners, employers and communities to gain the skills, knowledge and capabilities that Aotearoa New Zealand needs now and for the future.”

Ākonga (learners) and employers across agriculture, horticulture, processing and many other primary sector industries are now officially learning with Te Pūkenga.

Primary ITO supports around 20,000 learners at 6000 employers, as well as over 1000 secondary school students in the country’s biggest trades academy.

Kaimahi and representatives from Primary ITO and Te Pūkenga joined a pōwhiri at Wellington’s Pipitea Marae as Primary ITO became the eighth industry training organisation to become a division of Te Pūkenga subsidiary Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning.

“We’ve been working closely with Primary ITO for over a year to make sure that ākonga (learners), employers and industry get uninterrupted service during this transition, along with the upcoming benefits of our new way of supporting learners,” says Toby.

“We’re delighted to welcome them to our whānau. Making the transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved is critically important,” says Toby.

“We’ve taken a ‘lift and shift’ approach, so Primary ITO’s ākonga and kaimahi will see little change in these early days.”

Primary ITO Division Director Nigel Philpott says the industries represented are some of biggest employers and exporters in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“We’ve taken time to make this transition and will take a lot more time to fully integrate into Te Pūkenga. We really believe in a vision of vocational education where learners can move seamlessly from the classroom, to the workplace, to online, and that’s what we’re working for.

“Our people are very excited to be joining an organisation with the scale of Te Pūkenga and they’ll have a new ability to access best practice, knowledge and talent across our vocational education network.

“Over time we’re looking forward to learners around New Zealand getting more and better access to training, whether they’re on a farm in the Chatham Islands, an orchard in Central Otago, or public gardens in Auckland.”

“Our learners and employers can expect to see their same trusted Primary ITO people,” says Nigel. “And we’re very much focused on helping New Zealand businesses get the skills they need.”