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Last Monday in the newsletter TDA reported on the presentation by Professor Barney Glover, Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia, at the National Press Club on 10 August. In his presentation Professor Glover highlighted the importance of improving aspiration among young people. Professor Glover stated, we must “raise enthusiasm for VET deep in the school system”.
However, there are some interesting factors that need to be reflected on here about the current picture of secondary school education. The Minister for Education, Jason Clare has said that school completions have dropped from 90% to 79% (Press Club speech Professor Glover 10 August 2024). And Professor Rufus Black, Vice Chancellor of the University of Tasmania agreed at the Australian Financial Review Summit in Sydney last Tuesday, school completions outside the cities are declining. This is clearly an issue for Australia.
As Professor Glover reminded us in his Press Club speech, young people’s unemployment rates for those aged 25-34 years of age are above 10% whereas for those with higher education qualifications in this age group unemployment is way less at 3.5%. As we also know, the jobs of the future are going to require a post-secondary education. By 2050 we are striving for 80% of the work age population having tertiary education qualifications. Therefore, completing Year 12 is important if this target is to be reached.
So, given the dropping school completions, a lens is being put on secondary school learning in various ways. For example, South Australia has established technical colleges for Year 10, 11, 12 students. Those who go to one of the new technical colleges are “offered industry training programs co-designed with employer partners to give (the students) the practical work skills that employers actually need”. This is a great start into a vocational education based career.
Additionally, some of the states are reviewing vocational education in schools and its role in helping create progression from school. Western Australia has conducted a review of the place of pathways in supporting post school outcomes. Additionally, the final report of the NSW VET Review released last week has a range of recommendations related to schools including embedding apprenticeships and traineeships in schools.
Considering all training packages delivered in schools, there are some interesting findings that need to be considered in this context. Taken from NCVER data, the three most popular training package qualifications that TAFEs deliver in partnerships with schools are: Automotive Industry Retail, Service and Repair (AUR), Health (HLT), Metal and Engineering (MEM). However, for private providers the picture is quite different being Sport, Fitness and Recreation (SIS, SRC, SRF, SRO, SRS), Business Services (BSA, BSB) and Tourism, Travel and Hospitality (SIT, THH, THT). If school is to equip students for vocational education careers what is the right focus in terms of qualifications?
The importance of schools in helping to deliver on Australia’s 2050 tertiary education targets is essential. This conversation will continue to be paramount.
The NSW government has been urged to establish a new dual sector institution and to partner with TAFE and universities to create a nation-leading model of integrated learning in the tertiary education sector.
The final report of the NSW VET Review, issued last week, sets out a bold plan to revitalise the state’s VET system, leveraging TAFE “as a strategic asset to deliver on government priorities and act as an exemplar of quality across the system.”
It proposes extending the existing approach to integrated leaning across the tertiary education system, including the idea of a NSW Centre of Excellence with explicit dual-sector provision and a priority focus on an area such as renewable energy.
This would entail “Increasing shared physical and workforce assets across the senior secondary and tertiary education systems supported by clear policy, governance arrangements, and strategic coordination between the systems.”
“…there is an opportunity for NSW to show national leadership through the development of student-centred partnership agreements between TAFE NSW and NSW public universities.”
The review says the government should work with TAFE NSW and universities to set guidelines on credit recognition, stackability and portability of VET qualifications into university pathways and vice-versa.
One of the major recommendations is to scrap the Smart and Skilled funding system for providers which has been in place since 2015.
“The Smart and Skilled program must be replaced by a new needs-based funding model that better accounts for delivery costs across providers and regions and directly targets student needs.”
The review argues for a new model of delivering regional skills across a network of high-quality VET providers.
“At the centre of this, TAFE NSW should provide a new Student Access and Training Commitment to remote and regional delivery under the TAFE NSW Charter.”
In the apprenticeship area, the review tackles the thorny issue of joint employer and RTO sign-offs required for training plans. It suggests “simplifying and addressing inefficiencies” in apprentice regulations, including reviewing the need for employer sign-offs.
TDA invites you to join its upcoming TAFETalks session where members of TDA’s Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) group will explore key issues, challenges, and opportunities of GenAI in TAFE.
Experts from CQUniversity in Queensland, TAFE NSW and South Metropolitan TAFE, WA will discuss the role of GenAI in learning and teaching, the development of holistic GenAI Action Plans, ethical considerations and governance, the distinction between learning and performance and more.
Tony Maguire from D2L will share insights on leveraging AI and automation in learning systems to better support teachers and engage learners.
The federal government has shut down 150 dormant training colleges and placed 140 on notice as it ramps up a crackdown on unscrupulous training providers.
The Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles said the 150 “ghost colleges” were closed after they were unable to provide proof that they had delivered training for 12 months or more.
“The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) is keeping an eye on an additional 140 RTOs who have received a warning notice,” Mr Giles said.
“They must resume quality training by the end of 2024 or face deregistration. Those who don’t resume satisfactory training will be found out and action will be taken to shut them down.”
The issue was initially uncovered by the 2018 Braithwaite Review and affirmed by the 2023 interim report of the Nixon Review.
Mr Giles said the government was “calling time on the rorts and loopholes that have plagued the VET sector for far too long”.
“We’ve weeded out and shut down over 150 dormant operators, and 140 more have been given a yellow card,” he said.
The departing former Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Conner has delivered his valedictory speech to federal parliament and reflected on his time in the portfolio.
“I have had more complex and more controversial portfolios than that of skills and training – portfolios with higher profiles, let’s say, and day-to-day challenges – but I have loved every minute of the skills portfolio,” he told parliament last week.
“As I said publicly recently, the Prime Minister showed foresight in providing the tertiary sector, which pretty much supplies half the skills to the labour market, a standalone minister with resources and authority to elevate it nationally in a way that has not happened before, especially given the skills shortages that we inherited, and it was a very good call.”
Mr O’Connor will not re-contest his seat of Gorton at the next election after being elected to parliament in 2001.
“I was six when I came to Australia, when the population was 12 million. My parents were hardworking and looking for a better life for themselves but mostly for their children. Our first home was half a Nissen hut at Holmesglen migrant hostel, which it just so happens is now the location of Holmesglen TAFE, which was the first visit I had as Minister for Skills and Training with the Prime Minister two years ago.
“Back then, there were no ablutions in the place we lived. We had a common dining hall and shared bathrooms but were located within touching distance of opportunity,” he said.
Reflecting on his legacy, Mr O’Connor noted the creation of Jobs and Skills Australia, ten industry skills councils, and the five-year National Skills Agreement with states and territories.
“We’ve put TAFE back at the centre of the VET sector, empowered the regulator to clean out dodgy providers, opened access to literacy and numeracy education for all adults and provided more support for apprentices – and there is a response to the review of apprenticeship support that has to be undertaken by the government, which I’ll be watching with great anticipation.”
Jobs and Skills Australia has officially launched Atlas, a new tool that provides a comprehensive overview of labour market data at national, state and regional levels.
Atlas has been undergoing development and consultation in beta format for the past year.
JSA describes it as the first public tool of its kind in which users can find labour market data on individual regions across Australia and compare it directly to other regions or state and national data.
It also provides industry data at the divisional and sub-divisional level. Users can see employment projections, the top industries in regions, employment and vacancy data over time, and average weekly earnings over time, part-time, age and female share.
TDA Corporate Affiliate D2L has acquired global SaaS learning solution H5P Group and has launched a new AI package for educators.
D2L, a global learning technology company, is helping to further transform e-learning with its acquisition of H5P Group, a leading provider of interactive content creation software. D2L also recently launched D2L Lumi, a new artificial intelligence (AI) package designed to empower educators.
These two new developments can help further bolster D2L’s commitment to product innovation, accessibility for learners, personalisation, and a more human-centric approach to artificial intelligence. D2L’s cloud-based software platform, D2L Brightspace is used by TAFEs for online and blended classroom learning.
Tony Maguire, Regional Director for Australia and New Zealand at D2L, said D2L’s investment in H5P and support of the H5P community is a commitment to aid in empowering educators and helping to enhance the learning experience for students.
The Commonwealth Department of Education has released new resources for students with disability and their parents and caregivers.
The resources provide practical information about the rights of students with disability and the obligations of education providers under the Disability Standards for Education 2005.
The resources were co-designed by people with disability, with help from Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA).
Find out more here
Australia’s Skillaroos are ready to leave Australia and head to the 47th WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France, starting in just over a fortnight.
The 32-strong squad of Skillaroos will compete against 86 member countries for the title of the world’s most skilled country at an international competition.
The WorldSkills Competition will take place 10-15 September.
TDA extends its congratulations to these outstanding skills ambassadors and wishes them every success as they embark on this exciting journey.
TAFETalks: GenAI in TAFE learning and teaching
28 August 2024
2.00-3.00pm AEST
Register here
47th WorldSkills Competition
10-15 September 2024
Lyon, France
More information
Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM)
ATEM 2024 Conference – ‘Purpose’
22-25 September 2024
Brisbane
More information
WFCP World Congress 2024
22-27 September 2024
St James, Jamaica, West Indies
More Information
AVETRA 2024 Conference
3-4 October 2024
University of Technology, Sydney
More information
2024 National Conference on University Governance
Shaping the Future of Higher Education
22-24 October 2024
Melbourne
More information
2024 National VET Conference
31 October – 1 November 2024
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
More information
Australian Council of Deans of Education Vocational Education Group (ACDEVEG) 2024 Conference
9-10 December 2024
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
More information
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