Muka Tangata and Food and Fibre Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) have launched a project to create a skills framework that will support the development of a suite of credentials that maximises flexibility and transferability in vocational education and training.

This research project will also provide us with a deeper understanding of what flexibility and transferability means for ākonga (learners), employers and training providers in the food and fibre sector.

We will then use this understanding to develop suitable qualifications, micro-credentials and skills standards within a food and fibre skills framework.

The project will incorporate a te ao Māori perspective where appropriate into learning, collaborating with others and integrating existing processes.

A robust skills framework will support qualifications, standards, and micro-credentials within the food and fibre sector to work as a coherent set in both workplace-based and provider-based settings to form a wider and more transferable skills base.

Craig Langdon, Qualifications and Standards General Manager, Muka Tangata, said, “This project is an important step in the transformation of qualifications and standards in the food and fibre sector. Our intent remains to radically simplify the current structure while enabling the role-specific training and national consistency that our industries require.”

The project will enable the creation of clear pathways between our qualifications and programmes, as well as supporting connections between the wide range of informal and non-formal learning that takes place in the food and fibre sector.

Muka Tangata and Food and Fibre CoVE will work with industry across the food and fibre sector to understand how we can improve learner flexibility and transferability while ensuring gaining qualifications mean learners are prepared for the workplace.

Jackie Lynch, Portfolio Manager, Food and Fibre CoVE said, “It is going to be important to also investigate the possibility of a Certificate in Food and Fibre. In the same way that the Degree Level Apprenticeships project is being developed, we need to be open-minded about all possibilities, and for industry as a key player to start thinking about these ideas too”.

Through the project we will be asking questions like
1. How can we maximise learner mobility while ensuring qualifications have tangible value for employers?
2. What is the optimum level of skill flexibility and transferability for ākonga in the food and fibre sector?
3. How can we achieve these outcomes?

We will be sharing more, including an opportunity to get involved, in January 2024 – watch this space for updates.