South Waikato is dominated by small, rural towns whose residents work primarily in the dairy industry. In recent years it has become evident that there was a lack of skilled tradespeople in the district.
The South Waikato District Council reviewed 2006 Census information on occupation, industry, and highest post-school qualification, combined with local information about educational courses available and job vacancies.
At the time of the 2006 Census, 7.2 percent of people aged 15 years and over in the district had a level 5 or 6 diploma, compared with a national average of 9.5 percent.
Information gathered by the council revealed that although there was a good supply of professionals, there was a shortage of people with trade qualifications or employed in trade occupations. The council determined that local educational institutions needed to offer courses to meet the gaps in the local employment market.
The Tokoroa campus of the Waiariki Institute of Technology introduced extra trade courses including engineering, carpentry, and fitting and turning, with the potential to add dairy industry related programmes later. The feedback from students has been excellent, with high retention rates for the courses.
Students in the South Waikato have benefited from a wider variety of courses at their local campus, and the region hopes to benefit long term through an increase in skilled tradespeople.