'The village approach': Pacific RSE workers set to bring skills home

A new initiative, ranging from financial literacy to trade skills and leadership training, is empowering Pacific Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers to use what they learn to strengthen their communities back home.

The NOA Village of Learning aims to complement the long-standing RSE scheme. The Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), in collaboration with Vain Creative, launched the project last week. The five-year educational programme is designed to equip Pacific workers with practical skills to return to their homelands.

Speaking to John Pulu on Pacific Mornings, Meriama Taufale, EIT RSE National Operations Manager, says the programme builds on the work of Vakameasina, the previous supplier.

Taufale says as a tertiary organisation based in Hawke’s Bay, EIT can offer a wide range of training that aligns with the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, which is compatible with the frameworks of the Pacific region.

The NOA initiative, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, will deliver around 150 courses annually for the 2250 RSE workers in Taradale, Hawke’s Bay. The training is part of phase three of the ongoing RSE worker education programme.

“The other focus is on reintegration. So it's aligning the skills in terms of what the labour-sending countries or the mobility units need that we can focus on. So we have two types of programmes, We have an essentials, which we've named nu, or planting the seed, and that introduces financial literacy, digital capability, some human rights and health and living,” Taufale says.

“On the other side, we've got a lot of those elective programmes, and these are the ones where they range from the trades, small business to financial or leadership that they will be able to utilise. For us, it's only right that we can give them something to take home, considering a lot of the social disruption that happens in the RSE sector, and what they're giving up to be here.”

While there may be some concerns that the programme only serves employers, Taufale clarified that the focus is on Pacific development.

“We are really committed and have been working with labour sending units, the high commissions and governments of all the Pacific countries to ensure that we can prioritise and align those skills that they need.”

Watch Meriama Taufale’s full interview below.

“We are at the beginning of our journey but we've already started in Nelson, Blenheim and Tauranga and Hawke's Bay. As part of NOA and the village, it takes everybody, but we want to ensure that we come back and that we have the RSE and the labour sending countries at the heart of what we do.”

Over the past six months, EIT has worked with Pacific business and community trusts in each region to tailor delivery of programmes and involve Pacific language speakers.

“The key for us is to ensure that we have facilitators who are language speakers so that they can contextualise the learning. It’s not the team leaders or workers that have to translate, they want to learn in English. We’re working with the Centre for Pacific Languages to translate our material for them as well.”

The official launch included a pōwhiri and a Fijian-led kava ceremony, bringing together stakeholders, government representatives, industry leaders, and RSE workers.

“It is the village approach. We need everybody's contributions to be able to make this work for our RSE workers. This has been a huge milestone for the team and to move forward and deliver on the contract,” Taufale says.

“It comes back to that mutual relationship and keeping that at the heart of what we do. To be able to increase that social and economic resilience is intangible. How we manage that will be quite difficult, but together with the different government agencies, [Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment], and country liaison officers. Together we'll collectively be able to hold on to what we want to do.”