Te Toka carpentry student Ruth Tane fixes the purloins onto the rafters of the relocatable house

students are building on campus as part of their real-life training for work.

 

 

A lifeline is being thrown to people who secretly yearn for a successful job but think it’s out of their reach.

Te Toka offers free training in trades with backup that’s needed, along with help at the end to get into real jobs. This initiative helps Māori and Pasifika people aged 16-40.

Among the options are horticulture, agriculture, trades, cookery, bakery, food and beverage, health and wellbeing, as well as career preparation.

Te Toka scholarships are backed by a skilled team of support people who know what it’s like and what to do about problems that might stand

in the way of success.

Among the support options to help students get through are help with reading, writing, maths, computers, finances, accommodation and driver

licences.

There is also help for people with disabilities or learning impairments. The scholarships are open to people aged between 16 and 40 and

there are 200 available.

As well as learning the various trades, support people help students with career preparation.

”We help them with confidence, interview skills and anything that will help them get into the workplace,” says student support advisor Luke

Fox.

“One of the key things is that there are a lot of jobs out there and the feedback we are getting from businesses about students who have

already been through the scholarship programme is that these people have great skills.”

 

EIT work broker Daniel Walters networks with local businesses to help them find the right people to fill their vacant jobs.

“Businesses have been very receptive – for me it’s about marketing the students.”

Most of the students who have already been through the scholarship programme have little trouble learning the core trade skills, says Luke.

“It’s the soft skills some of the students need to develop – like time management, punctuality and some of the basic skills that people take for granted so EIT has really beefed up the career preparation component.

”I see in some of the students a younger version of me,” he says.

“If we have a mentor we can do amazing things. It would be great to see some Māori or Pasifika entrepreneurs coming through the ranks

who got their start from this – it’s really exciting because all the support is there.”