Education Minister Anne Tolley announced plans to double the number of promised new Trades Academies from five to ten over the next year, bringing the total number of Academies to 21. The government will use current trade academy budgeting of $63.1 million and some reprioritised funding to pay to increase the number of Trades Academies.

Mrs Tolley says the number of students attending Trades Academies is set to rise from over 700 to 2000 in 2012.

“There was great demand from right around New Zealand to set up these new vocational skills and technology programmes for 16 and 17 year olds,” says Mrs Tolley.

“It means that the total number of 16 and 17 year olds taking part in the wider Youth Guarantee, Trades Academies and Service Academies will rise to over ten thousand next year and 12,500 by 2014.

Mrs Tolley will announce the locations and successful providers for the ten new Academies over the next two weeks.

The New Zealand Herald reports that four of the 10 new academies will be in Auckland. Auckland currently hosts two of the eight existing academies.

“We have some flexibility in the budget to enable us to double [the number of new academies next year] to 10 and get more places for students from the same amount of money.”

The number of extra places would depend on each academy but doubling the academies did not mean doubling the number of students, Mrs Tolley told the Herald.