Back from left, Keith Ikin (RSLG), Manujon Pemerika (MBIE), Xavier Turner and Chalet Bidois (Aotahi), John Robertson (WDC), and Erin Wirihana (Aotahi).<span class="-mobiledoc-kit__atom"> Front row: Alexi Hughes, Sara King, Sydney King, Mahlee-Jaye Gray, Frank King. Photo Sigrid Christiansen
Twenty percent more students in the Waitomo district have dropped out of education since Covid than is usually the case.
In response, an ambitious pilot programme is giving youth more direction, helping them consider career options and identify clear pathways to further education or work.
Waitomo mayor John Robertson said the progamme would connect with at-risk students “at the top of the cliff, rather than the bottom.”
Stakeholders, young people and staff met with John at the Waitomo District Council offices recently.
“This is a unique programme we’ve developed for this district. It’s funded by central government through three waters funding,” he said.
“It’s been set up for two years to engage with rangatahi and employers.”
Around 700 young people in the district in years 7 to 13 will benefit.
There were 17 schools involved.
“It will give them confidence in the options out there,” John said.
“Our mission is that every young person in our district, when they leave school, [will be] engaged in further education or in employment.”
He describes the goal as “big” and “ambitious,” and one with national significance.
“It’s important for New Zealand that we get this right. And at the moment, we’re not there,” John said.
In part, the hui was intended to brief the Regional Skills Leadership group (RSLG), a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)-funded independent advisory group.
The RSLG expressed concerns about entrenched issues with many young Māori and Pacific Island rangatahi struggling to achieve beyond NCEA level one.
One statistic mentioned was that 20% more students had dropped out of education than would have been the case before Covid. They were simply not returning to school.
Some came from families having difficulty making ends meet; others were considered to be at risk of getting involved with gangs.
Part of the kaupapa is about ensuring young people graduate with the correct skills to work in their chosen industries.
MBIE representative Manujon Pemerika said graduates with polytech qualifications commonly lacked a full range of workplace skills. For example, in the construction industry there was “a huge gap” of two years that graduates had to bridge before they became fully capable workers.
Aotahi, a local business concerned with business education and employment support, delivers the programme.
Team members at the hui included administrators Chalet Bidois and Xavier Turner, and directors Naomi Hughes and Erin Wirihana.
They arrived with several rangatahi who had started the programme in term one.
Frank King, 12, said he had enjoyed talking about jobs and had “lots of ideas” about his future.
“I’ll probably be an electrician or a zoologist,” he said.
Mahlee-Jaye Gray liked “the mindset of being able to know what you’re going to do when you’re older instead of trying to think about it when you finish school.”
He hopes to become a professional rugby player “for whoever is offering the most money.”
Alexi Hughes, 10, said her experience of the programme had been “pretty good,” and a session about movie producers was her favourite so far. She hopes to work as an animator after leaving school.
Sara King would like to be a rousey; she enjoys helping her dad in the sheds and looked forward to eventually earning money. A job at the meatworks also appeals to her, as does studying to be an electrician.
Sydney King initially thought of a career at The Warehouse, but now aspires to pursue fashion design.
