Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
3 mins ago
School students from the East Coast were given a taste of the future at a successful discovery day organised by EIT’s Education 2 Employment team.
School students from the East Coast were given a taste of the future at a successful discovery day held at Ngata College in Ruatoria recently.
The event, organised by EIT’s Education 2 Employment team, saw hundreds of students from the region get a chance to engage with tertiary institutes, pathway providers and employers.
Education 2 Employment (e2e) encourages the coordination and support of employers and the local business community to be involved in vocational education, employment and development opportunities for young people. The primary goal of the e2e programme is to help connect industry with schools so that students can identify possible career pathways.
Twenty-seven organisations were represented at the event in Ruatoria last month. While the event was aimed at senior school students, year seven and eight and even younger students also attended.
Among the companies and organisations attending to connect with the students were local and regional businesses, Government agencies like IRD, and educational institutes including EIT and others from outside the region.
Adrianna Wilson, Education 2 Employment Advisor for EIT Tairāwhiti, says that the aim of the event was to expose students to what opportunities were out there.
“We wanted them to see that there are local employers and ones further afield who can offer them a pathway to a career of their choice.”
“For an example, we had Mātai Medical Research Institute there, so if a student was interested in going into that career, what’s the pathway for them?”
School students from the East Coast were given a taste of the future at a successful discovery day organised by EIT’s Education 2 Employment team.
Adrianna says the event was staged in a way that engaged the students and got them interested in potential careers.
“Every employer or business had an interactive activity. Some had honey pots representing apiculture, civil infrastructure had roading games, the police services had drug goggles and were in their police cars. We also had a Media House there which did portraits of the students, STEM were there doing science activities, and we had the Department of Conservation discussing survival, trapping and other outdoor skills.”
“We also had a game where they were given a bingo card with symbols that represented each employer or industry. And they had to go and either ask questions or do the interactive activity and get it ticked off by the employer. At the end, they all got a prize if they filled their bingo card. They had to ask questions and engage.”
Adrianna says the aim is to make the event an annual occurrence.
“It is a rewarding time for both students and participating organisations as the students get to see what career opportunities there are and employers are exposed to the talent coming through.”
