Infometrics has established a strong working relationship with organisations working across the tertiary education sector.  Infometrics was therefore proud to sponsor the New Zealand Vocational Education and Training (NZVET) Research Forum held in Wellington last week.

The forum, in its 12th year, was convened by the Industry Training Federation (ITF) and Ako Aotearoa and is New Zealand’s largest event dedicated to research on skills, training, and relationships between education and the labour market.

While the forum contained over 20 presentations, it was the two international keynote presentations by Michael Davies, Chief Executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) and Dr Borhene Chakroun from UNESCO that stole the show.

UNESCO’s Dr Borhène Chakroun opened the forum with a presentation on UNESCO’s vision for vocational education and training.  The second day started off with Michael Davis discussing the UK perspective on achieving growth through people.  One of Michael’s key messages was that apprenticeships and vocational education should be viewed as a normal career pathway for many more young people, and a key way for businesses to recruit and develop their talent pipeline.

Shaun Twaddle, Senior Economist at Infometrics, was pleased by the strong emphasis being placed on skills innovation, skills intelligence and the increasing need for evidence-based decision making.

“The forum has come a long way since Andrew Whiteford, Infometrics Managing Director, spoke at one of the first NZVET research forums over a decade ago.  While the presenters and topics have changed over the years, the key theme of using research and data to inform skill development and skill enhancement remains strong,” says Twaddle.

Presentations will be made available on the ITF website.