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Have your say! Employer Survey extended
2023 enrolment fees and Fees Free
Careerforce apprentice awarded scholarship

Life Changing Careers Campaign update

Welcome to Careerforce's December update
Tēnā koutou

2022 has been another challenging year, both for Careerforce, and for employers across the sectors we support. However, and despite a recent surge in Covid case numbers, it certainly seems that we have emerged from the worst of Covid, and it is timely to applaud you and your staff’s resilience and commitment over the last several years as you maintained your essential services in the face of extreme adversity.

2022 has also been a year of transition as we became part of Te Pūkenga, New Zealand Institute of Skills & Technology, on 1 September. To date, this has not had any material impact upon our day to day activities, nor the way we work with our employers and learners. Perhaps the only real noticeable change has been the application of co-branding with Te Pūkenga.

2023 will however see the pace of change accelerate as the full integration of the 16 polytechnics and 9 industry training organisations takes effect. These transitions represent a period of significant change, but also opportunity for our Careerforce kaimahi (staff). There is a significant commitment to growing and better supporting work based learning as a key outcome of the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE), and the combined skills and experience of Careerforce kaimahi will be critical to the longer term success of Te Pūkenga. We remain committed to minimising any disruption to our employers and learners as we progress through these organisational changes, and I am excited about the future opportunities that will be available to our employers and learners participating in work based learning.

I wish you, your team and your whānau a safe and restful Christmas.

Ngā mihi nui and Meri Kirihimete

Rod Bentham
Director - Careerforce

 
Annual Employer Survey - closing date extended to Sunday 18 December
Unfortunately, the levels of survey completions are considerably lower than previous years, and as a result, we have extended the closing date for this 2022 survey until Sunday 18 December. While we welcome your feedback at any time of the year, this survey is particularly important to us as this year’s results and feedback will be pivotal to informing how we can improve and grow work based learning within Te Pūkenga in 2023 and beyond.

We do appreciate that the leadup to Christmas is a particularly busy time, but even if you can just take a few minutes to complete the multiple choice questions, and share any ‘top of mind’ observations, this would be hugely appreciated. Each 20th completion will receive a $50 Prezzy Card - last year, we gave away over $1000 worth of Prezzy Cards.
 
Every 20th survey completion receives a $50 Prezzy Card

Personalised survey invites (and reminders) have been sent via email, and one last reminder (we promise!) will be sent tomorrow, Friday 16 December. If you would like to complete the survey, but haven’t received an invite, please check your spam/junk folder, or email marcomms@careerforce.org.nz .

This survey is conducted independently by Carte Blanche, on behalf of Careerforce, and we can assure you of complete anonymity.
2023 Enrolment Fees and Fees Free
The 2023 programme price list can be found here.
With the ending of the Targeted Training & Apprenticeships Fund, the Government’s Fees Free scheme is again available. For more information on what Careerforce programmes are covered by Fees Free and to watch a simple video to determine learner Fees Free eligibility, go here.

While TTAF has drawn to a close, Apprenticeship Boost remains available to employers for qualifying apprentices until 31 December 2023. More information on Apprenticeship Boost can be found here.
Video shows how a learner can check eligibility for Fees Free
Fees Free tertiary education and training is a policy introduced in 2018 to expand participation in tertiary education and reduce student debt in New Zealand. It is targeted towards first-time learners.
This short video shows how a learner can check their eligibility for Fees Free:

Follow the link to see the video

More about Fees Free >>More
Non-domestic visa holders learner
fees for 2023
The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has recently issued guidance around funding for non-domestic visa holders in work-based learning for 2023. This forms part of their implementation of the unified funding system (UFS), and results in the removal of training subsidy eligibility for non-domestic tertiary students. However, the Government has agreed to targeted exemptions to continue to subsidise work-based learning that is in the national interest, and that aligns with the Government’s Green List and Sector Agreements.

For Careerforce, we are fortunate that there is a Sector Agreement for the care workforce, and as a result, non-domestic visa holder learners enrolling in Careerforce Health & Wellbeing programmes will be exempt from international fees*. For the full list of eligible programmes, go here. For any programmes that are not eligible for a non-domestic learner subsidy, non-domestic (international) fees will apply, and these are currently being finalised.

Non-domestic learners who are exempt under the revised settings will be treated as domestic learners and are also eligible for Fees Free and Apprenticeship Boost.

Further information is available on the Tertiary Education Commission website.

*Visa’s must be valid for the entire duration of the proposed training programme to be eligible for enrolment.
 
Careerforce apprentice awarded 'Tulī Takes Flight' scholarship
Careerforce apprentice, Ngakiri Antonovich has been announced as a recipient of the Tulī Takes Flight scholarship, which aims to acknowledge the ongoing importance of education for Pacific families and communities across Aotearoa.

Ngakiri is doing her Careerforce Apprenticeship in Community Facilitation through Fale Pasifika Te Taitokerau in Whangarei after recently working as a Financial Mentor in The Salvation Army’s Community Ministries.

“It’s a real honour and privilege to be a recipient of the Tulī scholarship. I am very humbled to be chosen,” Ngakiri says.

 
Through the knowledge gained from her apprenticeship programme, she is able to interact and relate to all people in a safe, culturally appropriate, and non-judgemental way, building relationships for open communication.

Ngakiri’s Pacific heritage is connected to the Cook Islands. She says, “I’m grateful that I can pass on the knowledge I’ve gained in my studies, to others, so they can make informed choices for their financial wellbeing. I would love to lead teams of Pasifika and Māori financial mentors in the future to support our people out of debt.

 
 
 
Say Kāore to contract cheating
Contract cheating services have been increasingly problematic for all education providers in New Zealand. NZQA recently acknowledged the International Day of Action Against Contract Cheating and created this short resource for learners Say Kāore to Contract Cheating » NZQA.

Careerforce has received information that some cheating services have been engaged with by some learners. This contravenes the learners’ training agreement and may see the enrolment terminated. University students who have engaged with cheating services have subsequently been blackmailed by cheating service providers.

It is important that we are all on the same page regarding academic integrity and ensuring that learners are providing authentic evidence for their assessments. On 1 January Careerforce will be enacting Te Kawa Maiorooro – The Educational Regulatory Framework of Te Pūkenga; this sets out the expectations for both ākonga (learners) and Te Pūkenga with regard to all things pertaining to the training and assessment of learning. Academic integrity is paramount and Te Pūkenga requires that ākonga be honest and act with integrity in their learning and assessment.

Careerforce is working hard to identify any discrepancies and will work with learners and employers to help ensure learners are providing authentic evidence and meeting the requirements of their programmes. If you are asked to provide observation or attestation, please be full, frank, and honest – this helps us to triangulate evidence of learner competence and ensure that we are all confident in the assessment of learners and the quality of the qualifications we are awarding.
Changes to Youth Work Level 3
The current version of our Youth Work Level 3 programme expires on 31 December 2022.
All new training agreements from 13 December 2022 will be enrolled into version 2.

The programme is now 42 - 44 credits (was 44 – 45) to reflect changes to the unit standards. The two elective standards offered in the programme have also changed, and any learners being transferred into version 2 will need to select one in order to continue with their programme.  View the email communication that was sent to relevant employers.

Life Changing Careers Campaign update
The second year of the Life Changing Careers campaign has just wrapped up, having benefitted from over $1m of funding from the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC) Covid-19 Response Fund. To date, Careerforce has led the development of this campaign and the associated campaign website on behalf of the sectors it supports.

However, with this fund now closed, and with Careerforce’s transition into Te Pūkenga, Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand has agreed to take on responsibility for the campaign for 2023 and beyond. While the campaign plan beyond 2022 has yet to be agreed, there is universal agreement around the importance of the kaiāwhina workforce to the Te Pae Tata health strategy, of the absolute need for the campaign to continue, and of the outstanding success of the campaign to date.

 
Nika Harley
Kiri Epapara
According to Ailsa Claire, Chair Workforce Task Group (Te Whatu Ora), “It was an easy thing to do as its such an amazing campaign.”

Across the two years of the campaign to date:
  • Over 32m digital ad impressions delivered
  • Over 15m video views
  • Over 174k unique website visitors to the campaign website
  • Over 339k page views to the campaign website

Over the course of 2022, we launched two new hero stories, Kiri and Nika. Check them out if you haven’t already.



Aka Toi accessible during the holidays
 
The Aka Toi online learning and assessment platform will be available for trainees to continue their learning journey, and for Workplace Assessors to continue marking assessment tasks during the holiday period.
However, Careerforce support/help won’t be available from midday on 22 December 2022 until Thursday 5 January 2023.  

The Aka Toi team wish you and your whānau a safe and happy holiday season.  We look forward to supporting you and your staff in 2023.
Jobs for Good – list your vacancies now
The relaunch of the Life Changing Careers Campaign earlier this year has continued to drive people looking for care and support work to our Jobs for Good site.  List your vacancies on the site and leverage the success of the campaign.

If you have a vacancy, make sure you don't miss out.

Remember, Jobs for Good is free, it’s easy to list vacancies, and it’s super-targeted.
Please ensure that you use the latest Training Agreements and other forms
It's important that you use the latest version of the Training Agreement, as this is updated regularly.  The form was last updated on 12 December 2022 and can be accessed from the forms page on the Careerforce website.  Other forms such as the Organisation Registration Form, or the Standalone Unit Standard Application are also accessed from this website page. Thank you.
Careerforce holiday hours

Please note that Careerforce offices will be closed over the holiday break. Our offices close at midday on Thursday, 22 December, and will re-open on Thursday, 5 January 2023.

Although Careerforce offices are closed at these times, your trainees and apprentices can still work on their assessments over the holidays and submit them for marking. Bear in mind that there will be delays in marking assessments by Careerforce staff over this time.

Popular links
Find out more about:
  • Free Counselling for all learners >>More
  • Careerforce Qualification Programmes >> More
  • Gateway and Vocational Pathways >>More
  • How to contact your local Careerforce Workplace Advisor >>More
 
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