Changes to EIT’s recreation and sports programmes are aimed at streamlining pathways to further training opportunities and jobs within the industry.
The Certificate in Health and Fitness is being relaunched next year as a Level 3 programme. The full-time 17-week programme has two entry points, one at the start of each semester.
It will have embedded literacy and numeracy and, with NZQA standards, provides a good stepping stone from secondary school to tertiary studies. The programme will also provide free study for school leavers accepted for Youth Guarantee placements.
EIT’s Diploma in Recreation and Sport now provides several pathways, with courses targeting the areas of personal training, sports coordination and sports organisation. Changes to the diploma programme relate to a more significant reshaping of the Bachelor of Recreation and Sport.
The one-year level 5 diploma provides a good staircase to this degree, which has undergone a huge overhaul.
‘What it has done is open up five streams of learning,’ says programme coordinator Lee-Anne Taylor.
• Traditionally a strong component of the degree, sports science remains largely unchanged and includes exercise, physiology and biomechanics.
• Coaching, which covers leadership, technical skills, motivation and development using software for computer analysis.
• A health stream, encompassing community health, psychology and – in the second year – nutrition.
• An improved recreation stream which includes sociology.
• The degree programme has strong links with management studies, so students can pick up management courses if they choose that pathway.
Industry practicums provide good links within the Hawke’s Bay community.