New Zealanders looking to retrain in the booming IT sector can now pivot for free thanks to the launch of a new vocational training provider, Aspire2 Education.
Part of the Aspire2 Group – the country’s leading private provider of international and domestic education – Aspire2 Education will offer free IT and computing diplomas to New Zealand domestic students. Funded by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) as part of their Trades, Training and Apprenticeship Fund, the Level 5 and 6 programmes will deliver high demand skills for the IT industry, plugging a vital gap as the country works towards recovery in the wake of COVID-19.
“This is such an amazing opportunity for New Zealand learners,” says Chief Executive Clare Bradley.
“We have been delivering these world-class IT programmes for over a decade to international students, and we are delighted to now be able to offer them, fully funded, to New Zealand learners.” Available in Auckland, Tauranga and Christchurch, programmes on offer include the Level 5 NZ Diploma in Information Technology Technical Support and the Level 6 NZ Diploma in Systems Administration. Designed to equip students with relevant up-to-date skills and hands-on experience, each programme usually costs over $10,000 to complete. Successful graduates will be ideally placed to apply for roles such as technical support workers, systems administrators and desktop analysts – all determined by TEC to be areas of strong demand. Aspire2 Education has also just received accreditation to deliver its unique Graduate Diploma in Information Technology Level 7 to New Zealand students.
“We expect this to be extremely popular. Not only does this programme enable people to work just about anywhere, but it is a big favourite with New Zealand employers because the graduates come with such great work ready skills.”
The launch of Aspire2 Education is a positive response to what has been a very tough time for New Zealand’s international education sector, still being severely impacted by continuing border closures.
“As part of our strategic response to borders closing, we decided to diversify our education and training provision by opening learning opportunities to New Zealanders. These programmes are ideal for anyone who has an interest in technology and a desire to retrain or upskill.”
Adds Clare, “We have extensive experience in successful delivery of these courses to international students – 90% plus of whom are employed post-graduation. Employers value our graduates who know what they need to do to be great employees!”