TEC Board approves HITO Transition Plan

TEC Board approves HITO Transition Plan

Last updated 5 July 2022
Last updated 5 July 2022

The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) Board approved the New Zealand Hair and Beauty Industry Training Organisation Inc. (HITO) transition plan at its meeting on 23 June 2022. 

HITO will be transitioning all its arranging training functions, resources, learners, and employees to Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning (Te Pūkenga WBL) on 19 September 2022 where it will operate as the HITO business division.

Commenting on the HITO transition plan, TEC Deputy Chief Executive – Delivery Gillian Dudgeon said: “It is great to see HITO choose to join the Te Pūkenga network and I’d like to thank everyone who was involved for their hard work in getting to this point.”

HITO employs 40 staff and supports the following industries: hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy. It maintains 14 training programmes and micro-credentials and has about 1500 learners and 800 employers.

Responsibility for most of its qualification development, moderation, consent to assess, and programme endorsement moved to the Toi Mai and Toitū Te Waiora Workplace Development Councils on 4 October 2021.

HITO Chief Executive Kay Nelson said the approval of the transition plan was a major milestone for HITO since the Reform was announced in early 2019.  “The hairdressing, barbering and beauty industries have been under immense stress through COVID-19, and it has been good to see the public acknowledge the important work that they do. Our focus will now be on ensuring a seamless transition into Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning Limited (WBL) that minimises any disruption to our employers, learners and trainers and allows us to continue to champion our industries and their needs.”

Te Pūkenga WBL Chief Executive, Toby Beaglehole is looking forward to the expertise and connections that HITO will bring to Te Pūkenga. 

 “HITO will be a fantastic addition to our work-based learning whānau,” said Mr Beaglehole. “They are a small but mighty, dedicated team and we’re looking forward to working together on this mahi. By bringing their expertise into the fold, we can learn from each other and be sure we’re delivering the best outcomes for not only our learners in the hairdressing, barbering and beauty industries, but across all of WBL.”