C-Me Mentoring Trust
“I know that many in our community are still deeply rooted in the ways of the islands and our village way of life, but the village in New Zealand is different,” says C-me Mentoring Trust project manager John Kotoisuva.
“Here the village is industry, the education system, the city councils, the communities, the police, the navy and other institutions,” he says. “The culture and language that has to take top priority for our children is the one that enables them to be valuable contributors to New Zealand society.
“The village is bigger than being a Pacific Islander. The priorities have to be right, otherwise our Pacific Island identity becomes a weight around your neck, keeping us low on the socio-economic groupings and being dependent on others and the state.
“The culture I’m interested in,” says John, “is the culture that puts food on your table, a shirt on your back, and a roof over your head.”
It’s a typically provocative statement from a man who believes that ties to traditional culture, if prioritised wrongly, can be a distraction which slows down young people who need to develop the culture, language and skills needed to succeed in the world of modern industry.
Under the branding Trades@school, C-me Mentoring Trust promotes industry and its trades to students at schools. It takes industry into the classrooms and gives interested students a realistic purpose for their subjects and life after secondary school.
The two year programme engages the student at year 12 through to year 13. The primary outcome of Trades@school is to complete all year-one apprenticeship unit standards for about eight different trades. This makes the student more attractive to employers.
The C-me Mentoring Trust supports students by co-ordinating and managing a seamless transition from year 12 through year 13 and into industry.
“Its about increasing the productivity value of an individual to be more attractive to the employer for an apprenticeship and a full-time job”, says John.
While the students are gaining a sound understanding of the apprenticeship system and learning new skills, the C-me Mentoring Trust simultaneously works with industry to find suitable placements, which the students get work experience, then hopefully enter as a second-year apprentices.
“We’re responding to a need,” says John. “For industry, the high termination (drop-out) rate is a major problem, especially in the first year. This often happens because the young apprentices are coming from the education system to industry and they don’t know the culture and the language of industry.
“For industry, apprenticeships are high risk and high investment, with low returns. Our programme is about minimizing that risk by providing them with high-caliber apprentices who are more productive.”
As an extra incentive, there is no cost to the company while the students complete their first year of training. When the students finish year one at MIT, they move straight into the second year of an apprenticeship. At the end ofTrades@school, the students have a level two National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering, which qualifies them to be an apprentice in any one of eight different trades.
John, who had a career in the steel construction industry and was a polytechnic tutor for seven years, speaks from experience.
“I believe that the best way out of poverty is skills and good training and be a valuable contributor to society,” John says, “and the apprenticeship programme appeals to Pacific Islanders because of the nature of the learning – it makes theoretical subjects practical. They can see how they will apply what they are learning and they can work to the demands of industry. It gives young people a reason to be in school.
“Often its things like financial problems and home problems that can derail students. Our role is to support the parents, teachers, and industry, by keeping the students on track. We play a role in dealing with issues, but we also give the students the tools to handle it themselves.”
John began working on the apprentice mentoring scheme when he was working for Steel Construction New Zealand and he is convinced the process will now work for industry in general. He sees modern apprenticeships as a way out of the poverty trap, because industry holds no prejudice. It’s only interested in getting the job done.
“Industry doesn’t care if your black, white or Indian. Industry’s interest is, whether you can get the contract out the door on time and come to work every day, on time and with the right attitude,” he says.
Trades@school intends to deliver just that.
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