Partnership forms to meet agriculture worker expansion

The North Island-based Taratahi agricultural training centre has teamed up with the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) to form a new training partnership in the Deep South.

The partnership was announced in July and agricultural training for Southland residents began this month.

The two organisations, along with Venture Southland, have been working on developing agricultural training in Southland after Venture Southland completed a study showing the need for additional training opportunities in Southland.

Venture Southland completed studies of Year 10 pupils in Southland and the results found that males recognised the agricultural sector as the top career option, with females ranking it second.

Taratahi would deliver the National Certificate in Agriculture (General Skills) (Level 2) and a Star programme would be offered through SIT's distance learning unit SIT2LRN.

They also expected to offer the National Certificate in Farming Skills (Work Ready) (Level 3) in 2015.

Taratahi chief executive officer Dr Donovan Wearing said he was pleased the partnership had been confirmed.

''New Zealand needs an additional 1100 farm workers each year to address the skills shortage that the industry is experiencing. By 2025, the Ministry of Primary Industries estimates that New Zealand will need 93,000 additional skilled workers in the primary sector and over 80% in vocational areas.

''We work very hard to make sure we are helping to address the skills shortage of the scale required, by training skilled students with a top attitude and aptitude.''

SIT chief executive officer Penny Simmonds said the new partnership would enhance existing connections the institute had with other training organisations.

She added that having Taratahi on board would be hugely beneficial for future students.

''Taratahi has been training New Zealanders in the agricultural industry for 95 years and their philosophy of `real training on real farms' brings a unique element to the students learning experience.''

SIT was also in the process of developing a Diploma in Agribusiness Management with the goal of having it ready for Southlanders in 2015

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