200 extra places to learn a trade in the Hutt

Mayor Ray Wallace says providing opportunities for 200 young people to embark on a pre-trades course at Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec) is a welcome introduction to skilled trades.

This courses rolling out from next month come at a time when every trades person will be needed in the rebuilding of Christchurch.

Courses will focus on carpentry, then electrical, followed by plumbing, painting, horticulture, brick and block, and tiling.“

This is an excellent initiative for young people in our area and I commend young people with an interest in learning a trade to sign on,” he said.

Weltec’s Chief Executive, Dr Linda Sissons says “The experts all agree, there is going to be a significant and immediate call for trained staff to not only rebuild Christchurch with an estimated additional 30,000 trained construction workers required, but to work in other centres to fix the country’s 42,000 leaky homes.”

“This is why the government has just allocated an additional $850k to allow 200 extra students to learn trades skills at WelTec this year.”

“Education contributes to economic growth and improvements in productivity. For sustained economic growth and ongoing innovation and productivity companies need to utilise the skills of their staff. They can best do this by taking on trained staff who are work-ready and who have acquired skills in a New Zealand setting or by upskilling their existing workforce who already have an understanding of the company they work for.

Young people interested in study options can go to www.weltec.ac.nz

WelTec trades students learn on a real building site. Students build houses which are fully code compliant and built to a high standard which are then sold on the open market. WelTec recently donated two houses to Christchurch.

WelTec is one of NZ’s leading tertiary education providers with nearly 5000 students.