Dear Labour, Greens, NZ First, National, and ACT

Vocational education and training is a powerful instrument for enabling all members of the community to face new challenges and find their roles as members of a community.

It empowers people to be life-long learners and contributes to the full development of the human personality, social mobility, the reduction of inequality, and the betterment of society.

To ensure that vocational education and training can fulfil this role for public good, we urge you to ensure the current reforms of the sector:

Facilitates all New Zealanders having access to vocational education

This means ensuring the modes of delivery used in vocational education can meet the diversity of learners and communities which means having face-to-face, online, and blended approaches to teaching.

Creates a high-trust system where staff have autonomy to be creative and adaptable.

This means letting teaching and learning staff determine what is taught and how it is taught, with industry informing the curriculum alongside iwi and community.

Ensures we have a stable, sustainable, and co-ordinated public vocational education system

This means providing funding to enable just transitions for staff and a budget commitment to ensure that teaching and support jobs are shared across the regional communities of New Zealand.