Officials, MP endorse controversial training scheme

Bill English
Bill English
Government officials and a local MP have publicly backed a Milton training scheme.

Brian Crawford, a former tutor at Tokomairiro Training, last week made claims of assaults, alcohol consumption and mismanagement at the centre, which is managed by the Tokomairiro High School.

Clutha-Southland MP Bill English and the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) this week told the Otago Daily Times they have no cause for concern at the centre and are comfortable with how the school is running the programme.

Mr English, who confirmed he had "made inquiries" into the allegations, said he was satisfied trainees were not at any risk.

He would not comment directly on Mr Crawford's allegations.

"The issues that have been raised in public are in a process that will deal with them."

He and the TEC acknowledged there had been problems with the scheme in the past but both suggested those issues had either been dealt with or were in the process of being resolved.

"My primary concern is that Toko Training, which is publicly funded, is doing the job it should be doing . . . and employment issues are best dealt with by the people concerned," Mr English said.

A TEC spokeswoman said the organisation contracted the high school to run Tokomairiro Training to provide youth training, training opportunities, Gateway and adult and community education.

The spokeswoman said schools were responsible for how they managed their funding and the TEC expected they would meet performance requirements.

"They are also expected to have audited accounts and meet the financial requirements required by law and the Ministry of Education.

"Any financial concerns the Ministry of Education has about the school will be raised with the TEC. There have been no concerns raised with us in this case.

"Where there are serious funding concerns, we have an audit process we initiate but, to date, we have no cause for concern regarding any misuse of funding in this case.

"We have been fully satisfied with the work that Tokomairiro High School does and its performance to date.

"We are aware, though, that there are some issues with Tokomairiro Training achieving the average credits required in youth training.

"We are working with them to discuss why this is the case and how they could improve.

"Prior to 2004, there was a period where there were significant administrative issues which we closely monitored.

"We are entirely confident that these issues were resolved and there have not been any significant issues since a change of management in 2004."

 

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