Tuesday, 04 March 2025 10:55

DairyNZ supports vocational education reforms

Written by  Staff Reporters
Jane Muir, DairyNZ Jane Muir, DairyNZ

DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.

The Government is consulting on the future of work-based learning in the vocational education and training system and has two options for consideration.

An independent work-based learning model would mean a learner receives both education and pastoral care from an approved training provider, while a collaborative work-based learning model would involve both a provider to manage education, and an Industry Skills Board to provide pastoral care to each learner.

DairyNZ senior people specialist Jane Muir says DairyNZ supported the independent work-based learning model.

"We want to see an adequately funded system that prioritises learning while also ensuring value for the employer, to ensure the best chance of success for all involved," she says.

"The relationship between the learner and the provider is crucial and separating the pastoral care from the organisation most invested in their success simply adds more costs and a layer of complication.

"Building work-based capability on-farm is of critical importance."

Muir points out that DairyNZ is in a unique position with Dairy Training Limited (DTL), a subsidiary of DairyNZ, being well-equipped with practical insight and expertise into the opportunities and challenges of delivering vocational education successfully.

She says any new system needs to support private training establishments, such as Dairy Training Limited, to continue to grow.

A recent survey showed that 95% of DTL students either agreed or strongly agreed that their capability improved as a result of completing a DTL course.

DTL course enrolments have also increased by 500% over the past 5 years and continue to grow, she says.

"That's why we believe a DTL model adds value to the dairy sector and has potential to grow.

"As a sector, dairy farming generates more than $25 billion in exports for New Zealand, and it's our people on-farm that help us realise this potential.

"It's more important than ever that we're able to respond quickly to change and we can only do that with the right funding and training structures in place."

More like this

DairyNZ plantain trials cut nitrate leaching by 26%

DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.

Featured

NZ household food waste falls again

Kiwis are wasting less of their food than they were two years ago, and this has been enough to push New Zealand’s total household food waste bill lower, the 2025 Rabobank KiwiHarvest Food Waste survey has found.

Editorial: No joking matter

OPINION: Sir Lockwood Smith has clearly and succinctly defined what academic freedom is all about, the boundaries around it and the responsibility that goes with this privilege.

DairyNZ plantain trials cut nitrate leaching by 26%

DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.

National

Machinery & Products

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter