Transcript Document

Current Challenges and Possible
Directions for TAFE
Capability and Capacity Building in Australia
Virginia Simmons CEO
4 February, 2010
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Government- funded VET Students 2008
No. (‘000)
Total Students
Female Students
People with a Disability
Non ESB
Indigenous
%
Pass%
1,197.5
100.0
79.7
586.1
48.9
79.4
83.5
7.0
70.1
172.3
14.4
73.6
59.7
5.0
69.1
Total all VET students: 1,694.4m
Participation rate: 11.3% (stable)
Source: NCVER
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Council of Australian Governments (COAG)
2020 Targets
 Halve the proportion of Australians aged 20 – 64 years
without a Cert III qualification
 Double the number of higher qualifications completions
(Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas)
 Raise the proportion of young people achieving Yr 12 or
equivalent qualification to 90% by 2015
 Halve the gap for indigenous students in Yr 12 or
equivalent attainment by 2020
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Key National Issues
 Participation rates
 Qualification levels
 Impact on national productivity – now and in 2050
Response?
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The ‘Tertiary’ Landscape – Post Bradley
As at July 1, 2009:
 The two Ministerial Councils responsible for VET
(MCVTE) and Higher Education (MCEETYA) have
been replaced by one new Ministerial Council for
Tertiary Education & Employment (MCTEE)
 The National Senior Officials Committee has been
replaced by the Tertiary Senior Officials Committee
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Defining ‘Tertiary’
OECD - qualification-based:
 AQF Level 5 (Diploma) level and above?
 Post year 12 and above?
Australia – sector-based:
 Higher Education?
 Higher Education plus TAFE? ( i.e. 56 TAFE institutes)
 Higher Education plus VET? (i.e. 4,500+ RTOs)
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Defining ‘Tertiary’
TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) and Universities
Australia (UA) currently completing a joint project to
provide policy advice on this issue.
TDA Board position:
• Need for common agreement on the definition of
‘tertiary’
• Need for the current National Protocols for Higher
Education to be extended to cover agreed ‘tertiary’
providers
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Policy Imperatives
Improved
Tertiary
Pathways
Better
TAFE
Infrastructure
Social
Inclusion
Improved
Quality
Sustainability/
Green Skills
International
Education
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Policy Imperative: Improved Tertiary Pathways
 A single Ministerial Council (MCTEE)
 Expanding the ambit of Skills Australia to include HE
 Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework
 2009 Project on Tertiary Pathways
Victorian Tertiary Education Plan
 Capital Funds for TAFE Infrastructure
 Vocational Education Broadband Network
 Possible extension of NCVER’s role to include HE
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Policy Imperative: Better TAFE Infrastructure
 Education Infrastructure Fund (HE, TAFE and ACFE):
$4.065 billion in 2008 -13
 ‘Better TAFE Facilities’: $2m -$8m per TAFE Institute
 ‘Training Infrastructure Investment for Tomorrow:’ up
to $10m per TAFE Institute
 Vocational Education Broadband Network
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Policy Imperative: Improved Quality
 Decision to establish a Tertiary Education Quality and
Standards Agency (TEQSA) in 2010,commencing with
HE and then including VET in 2013
 Expediting of the National VET Regulator to commence
in 2011
 VET Training Products for the Twenty-First Century –
review of Training Packages
 Apprenticeship Taskforce
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Policy Imperative: Social Inclusion
 ‘Youth Compact’ guaranteeing an entitlement to
government-subsidised training for 15-19 year olds and
for 20-24 year olds pursuing a higher qualification
 Indigenous targets
 Access to federal government funding for ACFE
 Compact with retrenched workers
 PPPs
 Childrens’ Services places
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Policy Imperative: Sustainability/Green Skills
 Prime Minister announces $100 million plan to create
50,000 green jobs and training opportunities
 Living Sustainably: the Australian Government's National
Action Plan for Education for Sustainability, Dept. of the
Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts
 National Policy and Action Plan for Sustainability in the
VET Sector (MCVTE)
 National Quality Council Sustainability Action Group
- voluntary certification for ‘green’ providers
- embedding sustainability in training packages
 National Green Skills Agreement – Dec. 09
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Policy Driver: ‘Fix’ International Education
Some Government Responses
 Ministerial Missions – Federal and State
 Senate Inquiry into the Welfare of International Students
 Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS)
Amendment Bill
 Senate Inquiry into the ESOS Act
 Review of International Education (Bruce Baird)
 International Student Roundtable
 Review of the Migration Occupations in Demand List
(MODL)
 Review of the National VET Regulator
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Barriers to Policy Implementation
The Myth of the National Training System
In each state:
 Different governance arrangements
 Different levels of autonomy  commercial capability
 Different policy positions on the public and private sector
 Different approaches to market design
 Different funding levels  staffing practices
 Different fee structures
 Different public perceptions of VET
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Barriers to Policy Implementation
Inadequate data on which to base decisions
 Private sector training
 Commercial activity
 Off-shore quality
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OECD Assessment of Australian VET Strengths
The engagement of employers is strong
The national qualification system is well established and
understood
The VET system is flexible and allows for a fair amount of
local autonomy and innovation to adapt learning to local
circumstances
The data and research on most VET issues are good.
Source: ‘Learning for Jobs’ OECD Review of Vocational Education and Training Australia, 2009
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OECD Assessment - Challenges 1
The division of responsibilities between the Commonwealth
and state and territory governments is unclear
Principles underpinning funding are not apparent and are
inconsistent with human capital policies and principles
The use of skills forecasting creates some difficulties
There are some weaknesses and gaps in the relevant data
Source: ‘Learning for Jobs’ OECD Review of Vocational Education and Training Australia, 2009
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OECD Assessment - Challenges 2
Apprenticeships are rigid and seem to depend on duration
rather than competence
Training package development and implementation
processes are inefficient
The ageing of the teacher labour force is a serious
problem.
Source: ‘Learning for Jobs’ OECD Review of Vocational Education and Training Australia, 2009
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Some Implications for TAFE
 Acknowledgement that achievement of the COAG targets
relies on TAFE
 Pressure on universities to cooperate more closely with
TAFE
 Emergence of TAFE institutes as providers/facilitators of
seamless pathways: school / TAFE / Higher Education
 Impact on provider differentiation within VET: large /
small; public / private; self-accrediting / non selfaccrediting
 Changes in International Education
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Trends in Teaching & Learning in
Today’s Australian VET
Figgis J, 2009, Regenerating the Australian Landscape
of Professional VET Practice, NCVER
Practitioner-driven changes to teaching and learning
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Trend 1:
Assigning authentic learning tasks
Authentic tasks are different from simply practical tasks.
Trend 2:
Peer learning
Authentic tasks also demand that learners work in groups,
because the scope and standard are often greater –
deliberately greater – than any single student could
accomplish
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Trend 3:
e-learning technologies
• as a tool for communication to and among learners
• as a platform for engaging tasks
• a source of resources
Trend 4:
Work-based learning
Enterprises are asking VET to play a role in
overall workforce planning and capability development
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Trend 5:
Personalised learning
The best teaching – old and new – has at its heart a highquality relationship between practitioner and learner, no
matter what the context or mode of delivery
Trend 6:
Devolution of expertise within RTOs in
support of fresh practice
Serious attention is being paid to ways in which the
capability of VET practitioners is, and can be,
enhanced and extended
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The Missing Trend?
Fresh thinking about assessment
Should we be asking for diverse and intelligent
innovations in assessment in the sector?
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Summary
The challenges are many:
• Positioning – TAFE/HE/’tertiary’
• Participation – of students
• Political – government policy
• Perceptions – of industry and community
• Pedagogical – for learnng and teaching
• Performance – in global market
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Thank you:
• TAFE Development Centre
• Monash University
• John Levin and Rick Wagoner
• Participants
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% of respondents
(n=1254)
Category of suggestions
Improving course relevance and design
Table 1
Student suggestions for improvement
41
Improving staff attributes and behaviours
27
Improving teaching and learning practices
25
Improving access to courses, facilities and services
16
Improving assessment practices
14
Improving learning resources, equipment and materials
9
Improving initial information provision
6
Improving administration and learning support services
7
Other
1
Percentages will total more than 100% as students were able make multiple suggestions.
Source: NCVER Student Outcomes Survey, 2006.
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