Dunedin is set to become the first South Island city to host a range of new career pathway courses.
In August, construction on a new Skills Group training facility in Kaikorai Valley Rd will be completed ahead of 80 students beginning courses in nail technology, pre-police and pre-defence preparation and healthcare.
Applications for the courses opened yesterday.
Skills Group head of operations and delivery Jess Corbett said the courses were vocational pathways and meant prospective students did not have to leave Dunedin to study.
"We had to pick the [courses] that we thought would go well in Dunedin ... we had a pretty good idea of what was missing."
Dunedin will be the first South Island centre to offer the courses.
Mrs Corbett said nail technology was a popular course due to its flexibility and small-business potential.
"Employment opportunities are quite high and it can be quite flexible, especially for mums."
The courses worked well as an introduction to nursing or for people who wanted to work in care homes or within the disability sector, she said.
"We found that there were a couple of programmes that closed recently in Dunedin that offered these kind of opportunities — all of a sudden there was this hole that needed to be filled."
Pre-police and pre-defence is a 20-week course and would be good for people who were a "little bit lost in terms of what to do", Mrs Corbett said.
The course teaches fitness, nutrition and also shows students what kind of aptitudes they would need for a career in either the police and or defence force.
Mrs Corbett said the various programmes were study-link and loan eligible.
— For further information, telephone 0800 200 345.
