The Vocational Training Council (VTC)

The Council was established in 1968 to carry out a wide range of functions and to make recommendations and conduct reasearch in respect of training of persons for vocations. Membership was made up of appointments from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labour and Industry. 

The objectives of the VTC were to:

• Encourage the implementation of organised training and development schemes to ensure that New Zealand has and will have the people at all levels of employment to perform their tasks efficiently

• Ensure that people as individuals have the opportunity to develop.

• Raise the standards of knowledge, skills and effectiveness.

• Encourage those directly responsible for achieving the foregoing objectives.

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Funeral Director and Embalmer training developed rapidly during the 1970s in New Zealand.

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In 1974 key members of the embalming industry established the New Zealand Embalmers Training Committee which was able to access VTC funding under the Group Scheme Incentive plan to support a formal training course in embalming. The Group Scheme concentrated on:

• Assisting in the development of the then Central Institute of Technolocy (CIT) Courses

• Promoting and organising

• New developments training

• Training for specialist areas e.g. Disaster work (this had a major benefit following the Erebus DC10 crash) and Counselling.

• Refresher Training

• Upgrading training for existing staff.