Ō Mātou Ākonga Learners and Providers

• Many of the ākonga (learners) we show for the Dairy industry are undertaking qualifications that are relevant to multiple industries. Overall, enrolment numbers have fluctuated over the last few years, however, there has been a steady increase in the number of ākonga studying qualifications specific to Dairy, peaking in 2021, mainly due to the uptake of complex apprenticeships.
• Dairy has the highest number of ākonga enrolled in complex apprenticeship (NZA) compared to other industry groups. Complex apprenticeships in Dairy account for around one quarter of the overall number of enrolments, with government initiatives to fund apprenticeships being a significant contributing factor to the increase in enrolments.
• A high proportion of ākonga within Dairy are enrolled in the New Zealand Certificate in Agriculture Level 3 and 4 qualifications, with most work-based ākonga enrolled in the Dairy strands. However, enrolment numbers for the Level 4 qualification have fallen significantly. We are working with industry to address their need for shorter, targeted and flexible training.
• The Milk harvesting and Optimising Milk Quality micro-credential has the highest number of enrolments compared to other Dairy-specific micro-credentials and saw a major increase in ākonga numbers in 2022. This is largely being driven by completion of this micro-credential meeting Fonterra’s compliance requirements.

How did we get here?

In this section, we show qualifications that fall within Muka Tangata’s responsibility. We have matched these to each of our industry groups. We have also matched relevant micro-credentials, not necessarily developed by Muka Tangata, to our industry groups. Some qualifications or micro-credentials appear in more than one industry group as they could be useful to that industry, regardless of whether they are currently being used.

Complex apprenticeships consist of multiple programme enrolments. We have matched the main programmes to their relevant industry groups as we do not have the information for the target qualifications. As the data we have only included enrolments in current qualifications and micro-credentials, a full picture of historical trends of all learners in the industry is not reported here.

Qualification strand information is available for ākonga undertaking work-based training (apprentices and trainees). However, due to the limitations of our data for provider-based learners, we cannot separate enrolments into specific strands. For this reason, we have only reported enrolment data at the qualification level. We continue to work on ways to improve the data available to us.

Quality of programmes delivered by training providers

Muka Tangata independently checks assessment material that providers have developed, as well as their assessors’ decisions. This is called moderation – its similar to an audit.

Moderation ensures training carried out by providers is robust. It improves provider practices, and ensures graduates have the skills they need.

The reports provide employers and industry with detail on our activities, the quality of provider assessment, performance of programmes and number of new programmes developed in the past 12 months.