TOP and Youth Training Review
The Government is to review the Training Opportunities and Youth Training programmes. The Training Opportunities Programme (TOP) helps people with low qualifications or limited skills to gain recognised qualifications (or credit towards them), and to move into further education and training, or employment. Youth Training trains around 13,000 students, aged between 15 and 17, each year.
The review is looking to come up with future objectives for these programmes, and to ensure that they meet the educational and employment needs of the people they are meant to help. The review will also look at how these programmes can better:
- develop the mix of skills and training needed to get people into long-term jobs;
- help people gain qualifications, and providing them with the skills needed for lifelong learning;
- develop literacy skills; and
- make sure that Maori, Pacific people, youth, people with disabilities and other people who experience persistent disadvantage in the community and labour market get the most they can out of these programmes.
The review will also look at things like funding arrangements, how services are provided, relationships between the various agencies involved, and the systems for gathering data/information, and for monitoring and evaluation.
Two Phases to Review
The Review's first phase includes an environmental scan, a stock take of what's already being done in NZ, a literature review and a review of overseas programmes. Phase One ends with a paper analysing the key issues being submitted to Ministers by 30 September 2001.
Phase Two builds on the issues identified in Phase One and seeks to come up with broad options for the future. A paper containing these options will be submitted by 15 November 2001. A public consultation document will then be released by 7 December 2001, and a final report made by 28 February 2002.
The review comprises five sector experts and two senior officials (one from Department of Labour, one from Ministry of Education). The sector experts are: Sally Munro, Geoff Woolford, Ngapo (Bub) Wehi, Tina Olsen-Ratana, and Liz Tanielu.
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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