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Update: 41 ways to establish an effective VET

system - a comprehensive framework

Dr. Bruce D. Watson, Principal and Founder, Heads Together

www.headstogether.com.au

2015

Updated version, originally published as Really reforming VET – February 2015

Intellectual Property of Dr. Bruce D. Watson, DEd Melbourne and attributed

authors as noted. For Private individual use. All rights reserved.

Work in progress.

Published: www.academia.edu

In an astonishingly frank article, Robin Ryan (2008: 11) who was involved in the

development of marketisation policies in VET, argues that these policies were

developed on the basis of little evidence. (Evidence free policy, Campus Review, 17

November 2008, 11)

Whoever opened the voc. ed. and training market up in the way demonstrated, needs

to take responsibility for this mess. [Bruce D. Watson, 2015]

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The truth is the reforms so far are not in education but in economics. [Bruce D.

Watson, 2015]

The greatest frustration for those of us in Voc. Ed/TAFE at the time of the introduction

of privatisation knew the current issues were predictable when privatisation of

education was first mooted. Education and learning is not a product. The

trainees/learners have direct input to achieve the outcomes – it can’t be

purchased. [Bruce D. Watson, 2015]

Vocational education and training has been around since the Mechanics Institutes and

Technical Schools System – back in the 1800s. Though the name changed, it is the

more recent market model and privatisation of the last decades that stopped VET

working. Publicly, we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is

destroying voc. ed. & training. [Bruce D. Watson, 2015]

We need an education system that is equitable - not necessarily equal. It must be

devoid of silos, rich in partnerships that bring together the corporate, academic,

research, not-for-profit, community and education sectors to design a model that best

suits the students in their care. [Dan Haesler]

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Q. How should a vocational education and training system be (really)

reformed?

A. By using good evidence, rather than political and corporate/business spin

doctoring and individuals' subjective opinions (who have a clear conflict of

interest - such as making a profit).

1. Fundamental changes urgently required at multiple levels

* In the next 10 - 15 years, Training Packages will be the least of our and

industry's concerns; they will largely be so outdated and irrelevant, and so will

other related Australian voc. ed. and training products. Meaningless archives

of a bygone era when voc. EDUCATION and TRAINING was "industry-led".

* The "industry-led"; largely status quo approach and more band-aid fixes are

not going to allow Australia even to aspire to being a world class voc. ed. and

training system, let alone actually be one.

* From a broader developmental perspective, due to the close relationship

between voc. ed. and training and society, economics and employment, the

"interdisciplinary" research field relating to voc. ed. and training should have

been expanding day by day, beyond the "industry-led" conceptualisation.

* There needs to be change at multiple levels, it is irresponsible to simply shift

responsibility resting with RTOs to ASQA and allow RTOs to pretend that

there is no major, systemic problem. Members and beneficiaries of the

industry-led “Vocational EDUCATION and Training Industry” system need to

take self-responsibility for monitoring too. It is about membership and

ownership of the “industry” that they belong to.

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* Policies to improve the education and training must focus on building a

more comprehensive system that maximises the return on public and private

investments in work-force development.

2. Adopt a multi-disciplinary, evidence-based approach

*Reject self-professed, subjective "VET experts" (especially those with

conflicts of interest such as profit making), and adopt a multi-disciplinary,

evidence-based approach. No-one knows everything.

* Employers often lack effective strategies for acquiring and developing skilled

workers—they lack information about skill needs, face hiring constraints, fail

to invest in training, and do not view the education system as a potential

resource.

3. New Philosophy of VET

* There is evidence then that we need to review the philosophies, the people

and the processes of national V.E.T. reform to ensure that we are all on the

same track and that resources are allocated to the right kinds of community

based projects and programs not just industry and government based

programs. V.E.T. reform must now be seen within the broader context of

urban, regional and rural community development.

4. Change the policy development context

* The Australian public policy context tends to address social issues through

government policies rather than collective action and business involvement.

Where social issues are managed by governments, business involvement in

community development is allowed in codified form and enforced through

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mandatory legislated provisions. The wisdom of the community always

exceeds the knowledge of the experts.

* Policies to broaden and develop social protection coverage are needed in

light of the changing nature of work.

* Teaching, learning, achievement and feedback in vocational education have

become synonymous in the eyes of everyone in colleges, including teachers,

learners, managers and inspectors. Assessment has replaced learning as the

major function of vocational education. As a result, students are “achieving”

more but learning less.

* The Australian pattern of innovation is, arguably, more dependent on VET

skills than other OECD nations. It has a low share of R&D to GDP, especially

business R&D and it has a much higher share of low-medium technology

manufacturing industry. Conversely, its innovation expenditures are heavily

weighted to investment in equipment and software. The dominant form of

innovation is incremental and particularly oriented to the adoption and

adaptation of products, processes and services developed locally by other

firms and industries or sourced from overseas. That has to change.

* Multisector collaboration is a method not only for solving problems, but also

for giving people opportunities to practice skills in democracy. And the more

we practice, the more successful we will become in making our communities

the way we really want them to be. You are central in making democracy work.

Community leaders like you make all the difference in transforming our

communities into the kinds of communities we hope to live in.

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* As organizations become better at working together, we are creating a new

culture. It is a culture in which we are learning how to include many people,

and many groups, in making decisions about our lives and about our

communities. We are making democracy work in a new way. As we get better

at working together, we will develop a clearer and greater vision of what we

can actually accomplish.

* Labour regulation must be adapted to new diverse forms of employment that

are inevitable in the next 10 to 15 years.

5. Public managers educated and trained in complex process management

*Public managers with increased understanding of the main objective of

public management in complexity--namely complex process system--and a

strategy for accepting and dealing with complexity based on the idea of dual

thinking and dual action strategies to satisfy the desires of controlling

processes and the need to adjust to changes simultaneously.

6. Responsible business community role

* Responsible business behaviour in Australia is primarily seen as a legal

obligation in compulsory areas, such as workplace health and safety

provisions. This perspective has narrowed Australia’s approach to responsible

business practice and appears to have exacerbated a lack of interest in the role

of business in community development.

* Companies that have big impacts on communities and their quality of life

increasingly recognise that there is both an ethical imperative and a sound

business case for focusing on sustainable community development.

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Implement policy that businesses must embrace concerning social

responsibilities and not be solely focused on maximizing profits.

*Introduce a formal "Social Licence" to operate a VET business.

7. Agreed definition of “industry”

* Determine and Apply an agreed System-wide definition/conception of

“industry”, however, consider all of the beneficiaries and stakeholders – not

just “industry” (whatever that is).

8. Definition and conception of VET consistent with international view

* Determine and apply an agreed System-wide definition/conception of

“vocational education and training” or rename it altogether.

9. Better and all-encompassing System engagement and thinking

* Lift the standard of opinion, comment and debate in the VET System by

engaging with all stakeholders and beneficiaries (e.g., trainees,

trainers/educationists) – not just “industry” and employers.

* Decouple the institutional and programmatic constructions of VET identity.

This gives VET institutions a broader role and it would greatly improve access

to higher education for people distant from a comprehensive higher education

campus. It also it has the potential to improve access to senior higher

education institutions.

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10. Collaborative – led VET System

* Establish a Collaborative-led Vocational Training and Education (VTE)

System – including ways to determine and predict as best as possible, what

employment opportunities exist post training, not just market-determined

spin and propaganda.

* Some of the most common traits of existing closed ideology echo chambers

include lack of plurality, lack of debate, tribalism (" us and them" mentalities),

censorship and the punishment of heretical thoughts or actions.

* Appoint a Chief VTE Educationist (not ombudsman) to start drawing the

current VTE System factions together from across all jurisdictions.

11. Institutes of TAFE front and centre

* The capability and reach of the VET system is being rundown and what is

now a diverse and polychromatic system will be reduced to a disturbingly

homogenous and monochromatic system.

*Repair the damage and rebuild Institutes of TAFE to ensure people in rural

and and more remote areas have equal opportunity for VET training and

qualifications, together with a recognition of the important role they take with

respect to community engagement and community development - rarely a role

taken up by private providers accept some not-for- profit private RTOs.

* Private RTOs are not well placed to fill holes in provision created by the

withdrawal of TAFE from both certain activities and localities. In many cases,

private providers lack the relevant capacity and the vagaries of the funding

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system, as governments struggle to contain costs, are not conducive to long

term planning and investment.

* Under current settings, many TAFEs risk becoming residualised, needing

“special assistance” to cover declining revenues. This runs counter to the logic

of “marketisation” and it runs counter to Australia’s economic and social

interests.

12. Establish and fund Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE)

* CoVEs must offer specialist higher vocational education based on skills

needs set up and set up to address the need to compete in a global economy

and tackle social inclusion. The aim is to replace competition between training

providers with strategic planning based on partnerships between public and

private providers and between colleges and schools, guided by a collaborative

stakeholder voice - not just 'industry'!

13. New vocationalism

* Old Vocationalism is that which is orientated towards the expressed needs of

graduate employers/'industry'. It typically involves listening to

employers'/'industry' words about what they want most to see in new

graduates and then making room for that in the curriculum. At the heart of the

Old Vocationalism is the development of employability skills.

* Establish and implement a New Vocationalism - approach graduate

employability focused on the capacity and disposition of graduates to

learn - differentiated it from the 'old vocationalism' of specific workforce skills.

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14. Change the System name

* Drop the VET (“animals”, “war veterans”) “brand” – change it to VTE (or

something else to avoid misleading and confusing acronyms

15. Drop the open market, privatisation and marketisation model overall

* Drop the marketing and privatisation model for voc. ed. and training and

return to a community service model. A service delivery model relates to the

range of services the voc. ed. and training system might deliver to the

community and how things are organised to deliver those services.

* An open market puts the needs of companies above the needs of consumers.

Lack of ideal conditions makes the open market mechanism ineffective. The

perfect conditions required are possible only in theory.

* A laser focus on profits is threatening the very underpinnings and viability of

VET.

* Not everyone ascribes to the winner takes all philosophy. Germany, for

example, has taken a much more circumspect approach. Over the last 25

years, the social market economy has offered a genuine alternative to the

Anglo-centric infatuation with liberalisation. Reunification provided Germany

with a real-life experiment in the balancing of social and economic goals; and

Enquete Commission’s study on growth, prosperity and quality of life (to be

published later this year) betrays a genuine desire to engage in alternative

visions of social progress.

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* What is emerging fast is the alternative of a commons based economy. Peer

to peer, social sharing, collaborative consumption, commons, economic

democracy are all terms that cover economic activity that moves beyond the

market and the state, based on cooperation and harnessing human creativity.

* The commons economy moves us beyond commodification. Goods are

produced because they are useful and/or beautiful not just to generate

cash. An economy of free can evolve, capitalism to some extent generates

artificial scarcity, keeping us insecure to get us working and consuming.

16. Expect employers to contribute financially to Vocational Educational

Education and training

* A very different approach is needed: one where employers are not just

consumers of skills, but are part of the system, including funding contribution,

for producing them - not just in telling the System 'what they want' but in

providing some funding, opportunities for new grads to get work experience

and learn the relevant expertise.

* Even if it can be shown that an occupation is in skill shortage at a national or

sectoral level, the onus should still always be on each individual employer to

provide evidence of what they have done to fill a position from Australian.

17. Level playing field funding model

* Take into account the different training and education needs of rural and

metropolitan contexts. Increasingly local /regional relationships based on

partnership and collaboration are central elements in VET program planning

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and delivery. Social policy objectives remain important elements in VET

provision.

18. Drop the corporatised/industry model of education

* Implement community service management practices. Education and

trainees are not commodities or products.

19. Stop funding free enterprise profits with public monies.

* Stop funding free enterprise profits with public monies.

* Determine and adopt funding models that take into account Private and

Public RTOs Legislative responsibilities – not one-size-fits-all.

20. Require Private RTOs to be not-for-profit organisations

*Utilise the existing Laws, Standards, Financial Auditing, etc. that apply to

not-for-profit incorporated associations.

*By Law, any (modest) surplus/profit must be put back into the organisation,

not the pockets of Directors.

21. Apply higher governance standards to RTOs so that the commercial

interests of owners are separated from educational decisions which are made

by an academic board. This governance model already applies to private

colleges which offer university-level courses.

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22. Deal with increasing complexity while finding a balance

* Using funding to alter the behaviour of users (encouraging individuals and

companies to invest into learning) increases significantly the complexity of

funding mechanisms, as well as the task of those who “play” on these

mechanisms.

* Reducing complexity for employers can often be achieved at the price of

increasing it significantly for training providers. Implementation of

improved coordination and regulatory or governance mechanisms

(“coordinated flexibility”) that allow higher level flexibility while preserving

social control.

23. Restructure VET- Fee Help to protect learners/trainees from public debt

not agreed to.

24. Reduce the number of Private RTOs (currently approx. 5,000)

* Reduce the number of Private RTOs – Allow each provider to develop its

own qualifications and require them to be accredited by a qualifications

authority. This is the model used in higher education to accredit qualifications

offered by non-self accrediting higher education institutions. This will quickly

reduce the number of VET providers by a couple of thousand. Only providers

that are serious and have the necessary resources and capacity would develop

their own qualifications. It would create a system in qualifications, rather than

a market for the price charged for qualifications, which only drives down fees

and quality.

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* Smaller Private RTOs need to amalgamate or enter into specialist contracts

with Institutes of TAFE - this is necessary by the business concept/fact of

economy of scale. Why have 5,000 Private RTOs with individual

administration and reporting systems to be checked for compliance?

* If too small to be viable according to economy of scale, Private RTOs should

get out of the voc. ed. and training "business".

25. The re-establishment of training opportunities directly linked to employment

opportunities

* As per business supply and demand models, continue to provide no

guarantee of continued subsidised training simply based on 'market forces'

and what students want to do - particularly high profit low investment

courses. The 'market forces' apply to what people want to do, not necessarily

what is actually needed.

* All courses can still be available subject to normal administrative

requirements as full fee courses.

* Many employers want a cheap employee ('cheapie'). Where analysis

indicates there is not a supply deficiency, the occupations should be taken off

skill supply.

* The development of more sophisticated forecasting and skills analysis

capacities should be used to complement labour market testing; they are not a

substitute for labour market testing.

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26. Utilise and adapt existing structures for provision of VET

* Consider using existing State-wide and Nation-wide community assets and

organisations, such as Neighbourhood Houses (not-for-profit organisations),

as accredited and funded as RTOs as “the norm” for delivering a range of

locally relevant (not just market-led) VET courses – e.g., Aged Care in Upper

Yarra Valley with e-learning innovation.

* Transition and recurrent funding to ensure Neighbourhood Houses can

easily meet ASQA Standards

* Develop shared roles, such as Compliance Managers, for groups of

Neighbourhood Houses to reduce duplication of costs and ensure consistency

*Actively fund collaborative ventures between Neighbourhood Houses and

Institutes of TAFE

27. Drop Training Packages (including Train the Trainer)

* The significance of both behavioural psychology and systems theory

for the development of Competency Based Training is explicitly acknowledged

by McDonald (1974: 17), – behavioural education concepts and systems theory

both take a one-size-fits all view. That makes CBT dubious especially when

restricted to specific work tasks. It is a self-perpetuating problem because VET

Trainers are trained (“train the trainer”) using CBT too.

* Replace Training Packages with Capabilities Frameworks (or something else

that reduces the bureaucratic and administrative load so documentation can

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be kept up to date) to achieve broader transferable outcomes for

trainers/learners/trainers.

* Documenting and understanding capabilities may inform the development

of units of competency but the two are not interchangeable. The relationship

between competency and capability can be observed in a competency model

adapted from the work of Trichet and Leclere as shown in Diagram 1.

1. [The model focuses] on how to represent competency as a rich data structure. The

heart of this model is to treat knowledge, not as possession, but as a contextualised

multidimensional space of capability either actual or potential. The

…model…involves three important elements: an orientation towards and focus upon

activity-based teaching and learning

2. the identification and integration of appropriate subject matter content within a

broader teaching and learning context represented by a hierarchy of competencies

3. the straightforward identification of the assessment that would demonstrate successful

teaching and learning

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Competency

Competence describes what individuals know or are able to do in

terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes at a particular point in time

Source

In this context, a person who provides “the competency”, for instance

a healthcare worker.

Proficiency

level Degree of mastery of a skill or area of knowledge

Capability

The sum of expertise and capacity. Describes the extent to which an

individual can apply, adapt and synthesise new knowledge from

experience and continue to improve his or her performance

Subject matter

content Knowledge, skills, attitudes, attributes

Taxonomy

In this competency model taxonomy is a classification hierarchy of

capabilities; a framework for correlating educational attainment with

evidence of qualities that relate to abilities relevant to the performance

of work roles.

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Evidence

In this context, evidence may be thought of as successful teaching and

learning outcomes including summative assessment.

Tool

In this context, it may be thought of as formative assessment and

teaching methodologies

Situation Context

28. Deliberately implement requirements of well-being policy and procedures for

managers, trainers, support staff and trainees in public and private RTOs.

* Just feeling good is not good enough for a good life. There are several

theories of well-being which try to co-exist together under a relatively broad

concept of eudaimonia: a Greek word, which refers to a state of having a good

indwelling spirit or being in a contented state of being healthy, happy and

prosperous. In moral philosophy, it is used to refer to the right actions as

those that result in the well-being of an individual.

29. Do not implement contestable models maintenance

* Do not tender for development of “Competencies/Capabilities” development

and maintenance – involve highly skilled people, including educationists,

broad networks of VET System stakeholders/beneficiaries and direct

consultation, not just invitations to comment or complete a survey.

30. Reduce the number of VET qualifications

* Reduce the number of qualifications. There are too many, too specialised

(narrow) courses with low enrolments.

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31. Drop “under-pinning” knowledge, deliberately include “knowledge”.

* accept and implement a balance of theory and experience – ‘real’ knowledge

not “under-pinning knowledge” (interpreted as not directly to be taught).

* Get over the “Theory” versus “Experience” argument. Both are needed.

* The displacement of theoretical knowledge from training packages in VET

reinforces the second-class status of VET and contributes to de-

professionalising and deskilling teachers’ work.

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32. Recognise that Education and VET are expertise in their own right

* Get over the “Academic” versus “Practitioner” argument. Both are needed.

* Recognition by all that “education” is an expertise in itself.

* Recognition by all that “vocational education and training” is an expertise in

itself.

* Dump the TAE Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training –

Educate and Train VTE Trainers beyond the current minimum compliance

level – they must be educationists with knowledge and expertise in education,

training and assessment concepts and practice.

33. Make vocational education andragogy/heutagogy part of the VET System

Andragogy: the method and practice of teaching adult learners; adult

education.

Heutagogy: it is the learner who should be at the centre of their own learning,

and hence that ‘learning’ should not be seen as teacher-centric or curriculum-

centric, but learner-centric. (1) Since the theory was first launched in 2000 it

has become accepted as a practical proposition with its approach being

particularly suitable in e-learning environments. Recent (post-2010) research

into brain plasticity indicates that the approach can be useful in increasing

learning capability.

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34. Make VET System deliberately multicultural friendly

* Multicultural education is not a discrete learning area, or simply the

provision of Languages and English as an Additional Language (EAL).

* Multicultural education makes sure that all students have access to inclusive

teaching and learning experiences. These experiences will allow students to

successfully take part in a rapidly changing world where cross-cultural

understanding and intercultural communication skills are essential.

35. Make whole VET System (public and private RTOs) deliberately Learners

with disability friendly

* Learners with disability should learn in inclusive environments to get the

skills they need to successfully participate in the workforce and the wider

community through a range of programs.

36. Make whole VET System (public and private RTOs) deliberately race,

asylum seeker and refugee friendly

* Build in understanding of the lack of support and flexibility around VET

provision for refugees in capitalist societies as potentially related to structures

and discourses of white privilege which shape notions of work and workers in

Europe, as it has been convincingly argued they do in countries such as the US

and Australia.

37. Professional Development and Professional Learning by

Trainers/Educationists

* PD strategies are needed to assist with the processes of energising teaching

and training approaches applied in the VET sector.

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* Without continual enlightenment of educators’ skills and knowledge in both

the technical competency of their chosen discipline and in their teaching

competencies, educators will become stagnant and fall behind in their

professional practice.

* These concerns need to be taken into consideration when developing future

PD strategies at a local and national level.

38. Make increasing learning capability an overall part of the VET System

* Teaching approaches that aim to develop pupils’ learning capabilities and

show evidence of improved learning of trainees.

* There is a tension between approaches to learning skills which emphasise

content – in terms of mastery of specific skills – and process – in terms of

locating skills within an overall understanding of learning approaches. So that,

in the short term the most effective means to improve performance where the

assessment focuses on content knowledge is likely to be direct instruction. In

the longer term, or where assessment focuses on conceptual understanding,

metacognitive or strategic approaches are likely to be more effective.

* Effective approaches are those which explicitly develop awareness of

learning strategies and techniques, particularly when these are targeted at the

meta-cognitive level. The characteristics of these approaches identified by the

review include:

* Structured tasks which focus on specific and explicit strategies in the subject

context;

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* Capacity in lessons for more effective exchanges between the learner and the

teacher concerning the purpose of the activity;

* Small group interactions promoting articulation about the use of learning

strategies;

* Mechanisms built into learning tasks to promote checking for mutual

understanding of learning goals by peers and with the teacher;

* Enhanced opportunities for the learner to receive diagnostic feedback linked

directly to the content of the task.

We can also identify some necessary conditions for these approaches to be

successful:

* The teacher needs to have good understanding of the subject, of different

approaches to learning and be sensitive to the demands of different types of

learners;

* Teachers should have a repertoire of practical tools and strategies to guide

the learner and enhance opportunities for feedback about learning;

* Both teachers and learners should have an orientation towards learning

characterised by a willingness to engage in dialogue and negotiation regarding

the intent and purpose of a particular teaching and learning activity;

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* The focus of learning should be on how to succeed through effort rather than

ability and through the selection of appropriate strategies by the learner.

(Reference on request).

39. Regulation and Quality in the VET System

* Anyone can make a complaint to ASQA about a provider’s delivery of

training and assessment. This page explains the complaints process for non-

student complainants. http://bit.ly/1D3Oq6S

* Phrasing such as ‘the adoption and roll-out of national competency

standards, training packages, and a new emphasis on assessment’ together

with ‘the adoption of the New Apprenticeships system’ and ‘the development

and roll-out of a quality framework’ implies a juggernaut of regulatory

processes aimed at producing conformity of output standards – a production-

line quality assurance system. It is notable that excellence of teaching does not

feature here.

* In discussing an intangible asset, vocational teaching, learning and

assessment, it can be observed that there is a stronger emphasis on ‘certain

business outcomes – economy, efficiency, “value for money” and quantitative

performance measurement – than on the purpose, organisation, quality or

outcomes of the work being undertaken’ .

* Recent cases of 'doggy' RTOs should renew the importance of learning and

knowledge creation and bring teaching, learning and assessment to a new,

primary importance.

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* To rely on ‘market mechanisms through informed consumer choice’ assumes

that informed consumers will choose to enroll with quality providers, meaning

the rogue provider will fail to attract customers and go out of business. This is

a bald assumption and no evidence of where or how this has happened to date.

* Only when there is some consistency, and some agreement about

conceptions of quality in VET, can we expect quality assurance mechanisms to

be truly effective. The most obvious response is that they are intended to

improve quality, where quality first needs to be defined.

* But often quality systems are developed for purposes of accountability, to

recognise which institutions or programs are strong or weak, and then to

reward the strong or punish the weak perhaps through reduced or cancelled

funding.

* Measures designed for accountability may not be appropriate for

improvement, since they may not be detailed enough, or timely enough, or

encouraging enough to lead to improvement. In quality systems driven by

accountability, or in systems with punitive cultures surrounding them (as in

the U.K. and the U.S.), institutions and instructors may spend more time

―gaming the system than they do on improvement.

* Implement social reporting and triple bottom line reporting.

* Allow individual States to continue their own Regulatory Authorities until

they are satisfied that the National Regulator is up to speed and not going to

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cause a drop in overall quality at the State level. States must have input to

National Regulation directly and not as tokenism.

40. Review and adjust Vocational Education and Training Legislation and

Standards in line with above

* Making Laws – http://bit.ly/1bfKcDk

41. During the transition to "NEW VET", reinvigorate the global provision of

Australian VET programs off-shore with direct Government investment.

Notes:

1. Commonwealth, state and territory governments should seek to agree

common principles for VET funding and provision and to achieve as

much administrative consistency as possible, bearing in mind the

appropriate interests of local democracy in a context of devolved

government, and regional and rural provision of VET Costs and benefits

arising from local variations and from duplication of responsibilities

should be quantified.

2. Students should be entitled to pursue VET qualifications without

charge up to the level normally attained at the end of schooling, that is,

up to Certificate II or III. Fees for higher-level VET qualifications should

be leviedon the same broad basis as for higher education and defrayed

through HECS income-contingent loans.

3. Students entitled to funding should be able to choose VET providers.

Open competition should be accompanied by support measures

designed to ensure that a good range of provision is accessible to all,

including disadvantaged groups, that better information is available to

potential students on the quality of providers, and that different types of

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providers can compete on a fair basis.

4. Skills forecasts are often unreliable and should not be the foundation

of central planning. In future, there should be more emphasis on a

system driven by student demand balanced by employer willingness to

offer workplace training.

5. A broader range of quality and outcome data at the provider level

should be developed and made available. This will support student

choice and provision driven by student demand. Data should become a

systematic element of programme and policy decision making. Efforts

should be made to fill the data gaps, including an extension of the

Student Outcome Survey.

6. The commendable reforms that base apprenticeships on

competencies now need to be translated into action, allowing flexibility

in the length of apprenticeships and supporting that through a common

procedure for their assessment. Costs and benefits of apprenticeships

should be analysed, reforms should be evaluated and the results used for

policy planning. Ways of integrating apprentices into the production

process earlier during their training should be explored.

7. Training packages should be replaced by simple and much briefer

statements of capabilities. Consistency in standards throughout

Australia should be achieved through a common assessment procedure

to determine whether the necessary capabilities have been acquired.

8. Initiatives in which trainers work part-time in VET providers and

part-time in industry should be encouraged. Innovative strategies are

necessary to sustain the numbers and skills of the teacher and trainer

labour force in providers.

9. Better data on VET teachers and trainers - public and private - should

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be systematically collected, published and used for evidence-based

planning and evaluation purposes.

10. Legislative requirements of Institutes of TAFE as public providers

must be taken into account - not 'just another provider' because of

Legislative requirements linked to local community engagement,

community development, access and equity, and local businesses and

manufacturing, etc. [Adapted Reference 1]

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