hi guys,what the hell is coming through this site at the moment hope we don`t get a visit from the police,!!!!!

another post from the board...This must be a list of there CASE LAW files...lololol

i did my last block course at the unitech in august last year it took untill early december(with me hassling them)to get my results sent to NZQA then i sent the check in to get my award printed out...one week later i recieved a reciept from the NZQA saying that my certificate would be sent, soon another week passed and i got a letter in the post from the NZQA stating that they would not give me my cert because i had standard units missing from my results sent from the unitech!....immediatley i thought how can you take my money without FIRST checking to see if i am ellegable to recieve what i had requested...they should have posted my check back to me and stated why they were unable to complete my request...instead the first thing they did was to cash the check then later inform me as to why i couldnt get my certificate..lol...apparently the request first goes to the accounts devision then after they have taken the money it gets passed on to other areas to check if everything is ok...Wouldnt it be wonderful to be payed for a job first only to tell the owner after looking at the job that it cant be done because of so and so...lol
Anyways after back and forth with the unitech and the NZQA i found that the unitech had failed to correctly file all of my results with the NZQA...and finally i was awared my national cert in plumbing after a few butt clenching weeks due to what was happening to my mate at mit who had to go back and attend courses again even after he had done every ounce of bookwork they gave him........And this is where my point is i believe the trouble happned when the apprenticeship tranning trust switched providers from the unitech to the MIT...BECAUSE there is no formal traning docturine between the diffrent traning providers students are trained diffrent things at diffrent times making it almopst immpossible to switch between training providers if one feels unhappy with there current traning proider...there should be a set nationwide traning curriculum between the diffrent providers enabling students to switch or if they move town/city they can still continue there studies uninterupted....
For example
I started at the MIT in hamiliton and in my first block course we were shown how to rate gas applinces...after that year i transffred up to auckland unitech...in my 3rd year at unitech i was shown how to rate gas applinces again...so im sure i missed on something in my traning because they teach diffrent things at diffrent times at diffrent traning providers when they should ALL work to a yearly unit standard programe set out by the ito so if a student does switch then it will be a seemless switch...plain and simple logical thinking!.
And this would work wonders for all employees out there because you would know exactly what knowledge your apprentise had(or should have) at any given stage from year one to year 4 so you could best know where to place that employee to suit there current progress.

Yes the PGDB will not register you without your National Certificate.  When did you do your last block course?  If it was August on then you will be caught up in the NZQA/ITO to-ing and fr-oing that is going on at present.  It affects MIT, Weltec trainees definitely, and possibly Wintec, SIT and other polytecs - although I cannot confirm any other than MIT and Weltec.  I know NZQA is demanding information from the ITO - once they are provided with all of this they will assess it and make a decision about whether apprentices need to undertake more training at the polytech or not.  It may be you have to go and re-do a couple of things, you may be orally tested and then your employer confirm worksite verification of competency.  If you completed your last block course before August 2011 then it is my understanding that you should have no reason why you haven't received your National Certificate providing all the results were sent.  Ring the ITO on Tuesday and see what they say. Your employer should be assisting you with this.  Basically I wouldn't think you would want to go from trainee status to registered/licensed status before April or you will effectively pay twice in a period of only a few months.

I would be happy to answer any other questions - I have a number of apprentices currently and am constantly chasing up information about what is going on.
You can ring NZQA and ask for Tim Fowler (Deputy Chief Executive of NZQA) - he is working on the issue, or alternatively if you feel you are not getting anywhere with ITO staff, then check out their website and start contacting their Board members.  Mr Trevor Helm is the chair.  His email address is on the website.  Be polite and clear about the questions you want answered - even if it is simply WHEN am I getting my National Certificate.  Wal Gordon of the Federation has asked apprentices to feed back their experiences with training and the ITO for the next newsletter.  You can contact him through the Fellow Practitioner part of the website.

Did you make any phone calls today Enn?  And if so how did you get on? 

Well good news  basically I should receive a letter from the ITO explaining whats been going on  in a few days and my National Certificate next week. It was noted the tardy communication from the ITO.
 Also only 6 guys on my block course at CPIT  will have to Have their employers confirm competency on some on the job stuff.
There was a lot more stuff said but that's the guts of it.

Needless to say I will be applying for my registration next licencing period.

Well Mr Helms got in contact with my boss and was very helpfull  and understood  the issues as he is an employer himself.
We were unable to talk to NZQA Mr Tim Fowler as he was in a meeting , however his Executive Assistant explained everything very well and acknowledged that the timeframe was excessive.
So there we have it.

Rant over.......

Well it was heartening to hear that Mr Helm was helpful to your boss.  It restores some of my faith in the ITO Board.  However, the questions must be asked - is Mr Helm going to contact every employer?  Because at the moment there are a number of them in the dark, not to mention the actual apprentices themselves.  Where is the leadership and direction.  I understand the conflict the ITO Board has between governance and management - but they cannot hide behind that forever.  The Board set the direction, they set the policies, they set the budgets.  They also set the KPI's for the CEO. Presumably the CEO is their only employee - and then the CEO employs the remainder - so they have only one employee to manage in essence.  How did we end up in the mess?  Where did it all start to go wrong?  I would say faith in the training system is at an all time low - there are not too many people from apprentices, to employers, to tutors and all those in between who would stand up at the moment and say the training system we have now is in A1 shape. 

Who's to blame?  And more importantly - how is it going to be put right?