Oho Mauri Solutions Charitable Trust has secured $500,000 from the Ministry of Social Development to continue giving rangatahi the tools, skills and experience to enter the workplace that is most meaningful for them.

The successful funding application relates to the newly developed and trialled Oho Mauri 10-week Transitions Programme.

Directors and Co-Creators Leah Crawford and Lizana Tuake says this is fantastic news, especially on the back of such a successful graduation of our first cohort of 11 boys at Huntly College on Friday. We can’t wait to see more rangatahi gain the skills and confidence to enter employment or further education and training and achieve their goals.

The Ministry of Social Development is proud to partner with Oho Mauri, Ministry of Education and employers such as Schick Civil Construction and others. This Programme aims to support and make a difference to the lives of 100 rangatahi. At the completion of the Programme, rangatahi will have the skills, knowledge and tools to make a significant contribution to their whānau and communities in which they live. Hopefully other rangatahi will follow in the footsteps of this cohort”, says Tuahu Watene, Regional Labour Market Manager.

“Aotearoa has one of the worst rates of student retention of any developed country, ultimately, we want to see our rangatahi lead a fulfilling, financially-secure and independent life and feel proud about their cultural identity. We know fewer rangatahi in our communities are leaving kura / school with the necessary skills and experience to confidently enter the employment market and transition comfortably into further education and training, says Ms Tuake”.

This Programme in particular was co-designed with industry partners namely Safety ‘n Action, Industry Training Solutions, Independent Verification Services and Ontrack NZ. A holistic approach and deliberate focus on hauora / wellbeing strategies and cultural identity strands were weaved throughout the Programme.

This Programme was designed to give all students the knowledge and skills to use across the sectors of Logistics and Distribution, Construction and Infrastructure and Primary Industries.

“We have such incredible results across all modules and we had an average of 95% pass rate, and all 11 boys have been placed in meaningful work placements in areas of their personal interests,” says Ms Crawford.

We have partnered with All Trades Labour Hire Limited based in Napier, Schick Civil Construction Hamilton and Te Whāngai Trust Miranda for work placements.

“We work with the rangatahi and providers helping prepare rangatahi with real life skills, experience and self confidence to go on to whatever their next step in life may be and give back to their whaanau, hapuu and iwi, community and the economy of Aotearoa.” says Ms Crawford.

The second wave has started, there are currently 31 rangatahi on the current Oho Mauri 10-week Transitions Programme. These students are from Huntly College and Ngaruawahia High School and we are in week 4 of 10.

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