SECONDARY SCHOOL PROGRAMME FOR THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY
MITO’s new secondary school programme for the road transport industry, called ShiftUp®, has been approved as a micro-credential by NZQA.
ShiftUp® offers students in years 11, 12 and 13 a mix of eLearning theory and practical experience in the workplace, with credits earned leading towards the next step in a MITO traineeship in the road transport industry.
“MITO is delighted to launch our ShiftUp® programme and have it recognised as a micro-credential by NZQA,” says Janet Lane, MITO Chief Executive. “ShiftUp® offers experience towards a number of career opportunities – including transporting goods, warehousing, distribution, logistics and administration services. It provides significant benefits to secondary school students as their NZQA Record of Achievement will capture their micro-credential achievement.”
The programme covers topics including health and safety, vehicle documentation, general systems and components and driving hazards and risk reduction responses.
“Key to the success of ShiftUp® is support from industry to provide the workplace practical assessment and work experience,” says Ms Lane. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for students to gain first-hand knowledge of the industry, and for employers to offer work experience, ideally securing their next MITO trainee.”
In August 2018 NZQA launched a micro-credential system as part of New Zealand’s regulated education and training system. Micro-credentials are smaller than qualifications and focus on a specific set of skills and knowledge. This is the fourth micro-credential available to secondary school students through MITO following the relaunch of the automotive programme StartUp® earlier this year.
“We’re working hard to help address skills shortages by providing programmes that are valuable talent pipelines to industry,” says Ms Lane.