Online licensing training an NZ first

The Learning Place director Pieter van de Klundert says the company is taking an innovative...
The Learning Place director Pieter van de Klundert says the company is taking an innovative approach to learning. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
Two Dunedin-based businesses have teamed up to increase access to training for people working in licensed premises.This week, the Learning Place is launching the first wholly online licence controller qualification (LCQ) and the company is using kuraCloud, an online learning platform developed by another Dunedin company, ADInstruments, to create and deliver the course.

ADInstruments produces data acquisition and analysis systems for the life sciences industry.

The Learning Place, which is a private training provider, had previously been delivering the LCQ training for more than 10 years.

It was made up of two level 4 units standards: demonstrating knowledge of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 and its implications for licensed premises; and demonstrating knowledge of host responsibility requirements as duty manager of licensed premises.

It was decided to put it online to increase access for people in the hospitality industry, the Learning Place director Pieter van de Klundert said.

The ability to train online, whenever and wherever, would increase the numbers taking part, Mr van de Klundert said.

ADInstruments had wanted to work with a local provider and it liked what the Learning Place did.

It had been great to work with another innovative business and it was hoped there would be further collaboration between the two, he said.

The Learning Place initially started delivering health and safety compliance for the liquor and food industries, but hospitality industry training was now a small part of what it did.

Its work included dealing with more than 250 secondary schools throughout the country, delivering Vocational Pathways.

It aimed to be the largest single provider of Vocational Pathways at secondary schools in New Zealand.

About 17 courses were delivered at schools and, over the next year, the provider was expanding into sports coaching for schools, business administration and healthcare.

About 80% of the Learning Place's business was out of Dunedin and it had ''roving'' trainers in the North Island.

Seeing niches in the market and taking an innovative approach to training was central, Mr van de Klundert said.

He cited its mobile barista unit in the North Island, which had four espresso machines imported from Spain and could deliver barista training for between 15 to 20 pupils on-site at a school.

The Learning Place had ''real flexibility'' in its delivery model, which was very important.

There had been steady growth and it was necessary to ensure quality infrastructure was in place, he said.

''You've got to be very conscious of capabilities. We grow when we can resource the growth. We know the potential is there and we know when to move forward,'' he said.

When it came to training, people still liked to ''have something in front of them'' and that classroom dynamic was never going to be captured online.

Mr van de Klundert expected there would still be a mix of online delivery, face to face training and workplace assessment.

Part of the Learning Place's success had been because of having such a good team and everybody who came joined was empowered to make decisions. Investment was made in professional development for the team, he said.

Tangible training was delivered with tangible outcomes which was very important, he said.

He was a firm believer that school-leavers had to have tangible skills to gain employment. Mr van de Klundert was proud to be based in Dunedin, saying that although it would probably be easier to be based in the North Island where there was a much bigger market, ''you don't have the advantages of living in Dunedin''.

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