Demise ‘serious’ say employers

Press, 31 January 1989, Page 15

Demise ‘serious’ say employers

PA Wellington The withdrawal of Government funding for indusrial training will seriously affect industry development and future employment, the Employers Federation says. The demise of the Vocational Training Council on March 31 and the end of Government funding for industry training boards was announced yesterday by the council’s chairman, Mr George Peters. Closing of the council was recommended in the Hawke report. The Employers Federation’s assistant director general, Mr Ray Taylor, who is also deputy chairman of the V.T.C., said the Government must continue to provide financial support for industry traning. “Industry is the consumer of industrial training,” Mr Taylor said. “The V.T.C. and industrial training boards have been the main developers of industrial training, in

addition to those on-the-job programmes provided by the industry itself. “Employers will be looking to the Government’s pending decisions on the Hawke’s Report for a replacement of the functions of the V.T.C. “It would be a great tragedy if the benefits of the V.T.C. were lost. We hope that the excellent work done by the V.T.C. is retained in the new system. “There are now two imperatives. The Government must establish a peak policy body to replace the V.T.C. and industry must be well represented on it to ensure that consumers’ needs are catered for,” Mr Taylor said. The Manufacturers’ Federation’s president, Mr Barry Brill, said the Government had given no indication on whether the boards would be allowed to collect levies to continue to provide training on their own when the V.T.C. was scrapped.