Developing transferable skills is where taxpayers’ money should be spent – comment by CEO Jenny Dodd

One of the good things coming out of the current VET reforms is the focus on transferable skills. The proposed new guidelines for training package developers will lift qualifications so they meet occupational and skills standards. Inherent within that approach will be a focus on what someone needs to do in an occupation. That is, what are the skills standards of the occupation that the individual must demonstrate consistently. This should lead to the formation of capabilities that can be transferred across jobs within an occupation. What a breath of fresh air away from the current prescriptive job task focused Training Packages that lead just to one outcome.

TDA is all for that change – less prescription, more transferrable skills. That is, where we should be investing – investing in people to gain the knowledge and skills that can allow them to adapt and to demonstrate transferable skills.

However, TDA members are much less enthusiastic about the next part. At a recent consultation with the designers of the new training package guidelines and about 30 senior educators from TAFEs across the country, there was significant angst about the proposed Training Package Operating Framework. This angst was in the proposed Training and Assessment Requirements. As VET loves to adopt acronyms, this has quickly become the ‘TAR’.

I know this is very unorthodox, but TAR is defined as ‘a dark brown or black bituminous usually odorous viscous liquid’ (Merriam-Webster dictionary referenced on Friday 4 November 2022 https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tar). Within our TAFE network, and I am being somewhat extreme here, but we are of the view that the current draft qualifications that contain TARs will end up cloaking training providers in such ‘viscous liquid’. That is TARs, which will specify mandatory requirements for training and assessment, have the potential to become the same highly prescriptive products that we have currently.

What we need is training products that really allow co-designed outcomes. We must ask  – how will the innovation that we know exists in vibrant local TAFE-employer partnerships, that are designed between qualified educators and industry be possible? How do we learn from successful systems overseas that foster partnerships between curriculum and learning design experts with employers in ways that are bespoke for them while still meeting the occupational standards?

So, a big tick from TDA for the current qualification reform piece that is driving occupational/skills standards and enabling the development of transferable skills. Thumbs down to TARs in their current proposed structure. Luckily, we’re still in the formative stage of these Training Package guidelines that our new Industry Clusters will work to. The positive is the openness through which consultation is occurring. A big tick to that too!