As a workforce development council, the role of Toi Mai Ohu Ahumahi is to ensure the vocational education system meets industry needs, give a stronger voice to Māori business and iwi development, and open more career pathways for our underserved communities, including Māori, Pacific peoples, tāngata whaikaha, LGBTQIA+ and wāhine. We will give our sectors, employers, independent earners and volunteers greater leadership and influence across vocational education.
Although Toi Mai sectors make a massive contribution to the economy and culture of Aotearoa, they don’t all currently have a strong voice in the vocational education system.
Success for us is establishing and nurturing meaningful connections with entrepreneurial, independent earners and employers – including Māori business owners – as well as volunteers, to bring the benefits of vocational education to life for them.
Find out more about vocational education and training or watch the following video courtesy of the Tertiary Education Commission.
Toi Mai Ohu Ahumahi is transformational and building an organisation that contributes to a diverse, skilled workforce that is based on truly honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi in Aotearoa.
Our ongoing commitment is built around the vision of our Māori learners and their whānau seeing a limitless future for themselves in their chosen vocation and having a clear pathway to achieving that future.
We acknowledge that Māori make up a growing share of our workforce and that the iwi and hapū economy will continue to increase its contribution to Aotearoa. These two facts provide the impetus to act now, to inform ourselves about what that looks like for Māori, iwi, hapū, learners and their whānau, and to work with them to design the future of vocational education in Aotearoa.
Find out more about our commitment in honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Ngā Peka o Toi is the sector-focused denomination covering the various sectors and industries Toi Mai represents in the vocational education and training space, including the creative, technology, entertainment, hairdressing and barbering, makeup artistry, skincare, journalism, radio and television broadcasting, gambling, and sports and recreation industries. The six peka are:
This categorisation of our sectors came about following the release of the COVID-19 Recovery Baseline Engagement and Data (BED) Project, which identified the need for a more holistic identification of our workforces embedded in te ao Māori.
In March 2023, we released Te Wao Nui o Toi, which connected the film industry to the narrative of a forest ecosystem in the manner of Te Wao Nui a Tāne. Following the development of this kaupapa, our sectors – originally denoted as the creative, cultural, recreation and technology (CCRT) sectors – became Ngā Peka (branches) o Toi, each being a part of a wider Toi Mai ecosystem.
Click each of the peka above to learn more.
We work with employers, independent earners and volunteers to understand the skills that are needed by our sectors. This information is then shared with education and training providers to create learning programmes that will give people relevant skills to address future workforce needs.
We lead the development of relevant qualifications, set industry standards and assess training provision against these standards. Where appropriate, we will set and help with capstone assessments at the end of a qualification. Industry standards will be consistently applied across the country and across all modes of learning, whether on the job (such as apprenticeships), on campus or online.
We also endorse vocational education programmes prior to them being approved by NZQA.
For more information, we invite you to read our 2023–24 Operational Plan.
As well as engaging with employers and independent earners, we work collaboratively across the vocational education sector. We engage regularly with Regional Skills Leadership Groups (RSLGs), Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) and providers (Te Pūkenga, Wānanga and private training establishments (PTEs)).
We also engage with a range of parties to help inform and prioritise their service delivery. These include the Ministry of Education (MoE), advocacy groups, learners, Te Taumata Aronui, government agencies and schools.
The Reform of Vocational Education and Training (RoVE) is the Government’s structure to create a strong, unified and sustainable vocational education system that is fit for the future of work and delivers the skills that learners, employers and communities need to thrive.
This system enables a stronger focus on employers by delivering the skills they need, providing more support for their employees and ensuring greater consistency in vocational education across Aotearoa.
Find out more about the Reform of Vocational Education.
The WDC Interim Establishment Boards (iEB) were responsible for consulting with industry and developing an OiC that outlined the name, industries represented, governance arrangements and other core aspects of their WDC. More than 200 people and organisations provided feedback on the draft OiCs. This engagement helped ensure Toi Mai was established in ways that will best meet industry needs.
Once approved by the Minister of Education, OiCs were sent to the Governor-General for signature. On Monday 10 May 2021, Her Excellency the Governor-General, Patsy Reddy, gave Royal Assent, passing in to law, OiCs establishing the six WDCs. The legislation came into effect on 11 June 2021.
Click here to read the Toi Mai WDC Order in Council.
Keri Milne-Ihimaera (Ngāi Tahu) runs her own consultancy business where she provides a Māori woman's perspective in the areas...
