Post on 01-Apr-2015
Ensuring Vocational is Not Second
BestDr John Spierings
Senior Adviser on Skills & Higher Education, DPMO & PMO 2008-13
Some Global Trends
• Everything is mobile, everything is tradeable…nothing in the air is solid
• Increasing marketization of education across all sectors – higher education , schools, early childhood as well as VET – privileges private goods over public benefits
• Greater choice in education confers greater risks for individuals, without necessarily greater rewards
• VET is at the pointy intersection of public, student & industry interests - it is the education sector most entwined with changes in labour markets
• Labour markets are increasingly precarious in terms of hours, pay, duration & pathways. Entry level work opportunities in manufacturing, public service, finance sectors have evaporated across OECD
• Future mobility framed around achieving a senior school qualification, higher ed or VET equivalent
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Australian Strengths
• National qualifications framework – provides certainty & clarity for students, industry & training providers. Point of difference with universities & schools
• VET qualifications are integrated into the broader tertiary education landscape
• Training packages establish the ‘units of competency’ in VET qualifications
• Joint employer & union management of packages via Industry Skill Councils
• Innovations such as group training schemes cover small employers & disadvantaged students
• Apprenticeship participation withstood the Global Financial Crisis
• 500 Trade Skills Centres in Schools – potential base to strengthen voced options for students
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Snapshot of Australian Apprenticeship System
• Trend: Removal of govt incentives - non-trade commencements fell by 90K to 146K, 2012 to 2013 (37.5%) Trade commencements rose by 2.3% over same period
• Balance: 40% of commencements are in trades
• Pay: 55% of Adult Award in 1st year (previously 35%); 80% for those aged 21+
• Returns: Labour market returns for apprentices are strong – above average earners & lower unemployment
• Quality: 80% of employers & 87% of students express satisfaction with training quality
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Australian weaknesses
• Australian apprentices are employees as well as students – training experience is strongly related to the quality of the enterprise
• Business still views training as a cost rather than an investment – poor data on business training expenditure
• Low industry participation - only 100,000 businesses employ apprentices & trainees. Leads to ‘free riding’, skills shortages, diminished opportunities
• Low completion rates – 50% attrition in trades; 60% in other qualifications. Long tail in literacy & numeracy capabilities (1:8 & 1:5 in lowest literacy & numeracy bands)
• No ‘master’ or ‘elevated’ trade qualifications
• Poor career guidance services for students
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What needs to be done
• Public support for high quality institutions of learning dedicated to vocational skills
• Extend sector-based training levies to share the costs & reward successful employers. Enhance group training schemes
• Embrace problem solving, design skills & collaboration as core VET competencies
• Lift entry-level standards & qualifications of VET teachers
• Conduct external validation of qualifications & providers
• Attract powerful new friends to champion VET
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