VTA State Conference 2003

1. VTA State Conference 2003 The Learning Organisation ‘Spotlight on Educational Issues’ Belinda McLennan Deputy Director TAFE Victoria University

2. Creating and Sustaining Sound Industry Partnerships Strengths • Links and networks with industry • Training packages and competency-based assessment • Flexibility and responsiveness of teacher educators • Industry readiness for finding strategies to support workplace change • Available profile and existing worker funding TAFE Division

3. Creating and Sustaining Sound Industry Partnerships Weaknesses • Capacity of TAFE to keep up with and understand industry imperatives • TAFE teachers with a curriculum, teacher-driven history of teaching • Large enterprises dominating the TP design agenda and TP rules • Uncertainty and variable access to existing worker funding • Flexibility of ‘profile rich’ Institutes over those with more expertise, but fewer hours TAFE Division

4. What is Victoria University doing to build sound industry relationships? Some examples…..

5. Transport & Distribution Co. TAFE Division

6. Transport & Distribution Co. • Certificate 3 T &D (Road Transport) & (Warehousing) • a mixture of federal existing worker training, fee-for-service and state profile across 3 states. • Over 1000 participants, on and off-job training Training Outcomes: • Recognition of current skills; increased professionalism of workers’ skills; preparation for introduction of new technology; training for all new employees. TAFE Division

7. Transport & Distribution Co. Issues: • calendar year accountabilities; • restrictive award position descriptions; • costly materials development to meet flexible delivery demands; • Shortage of industry labour with consequent impact on training time availability. TAFE Division

8. Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Program participants eager for more! TAFE Division

9. Vehicle Manufacture Co. • Certificate 3, 4 in Frontline Management • State government and some FFS • 300 team leaders and 40 group leaders: Work integrated mentoring, coaching, facilitation, observation, workshops, projects & assessment jointly b/w VU and company managers to individuals and groups. Training Outcomes: • Tailored to company priorities eg. budgeting, motivating teams; planning; team performance, conflict resolution, safety. TAFE Division

10. Vehicle Manufacture Co. Issues: “Final structuring,scheduling,sequencing of the training program will be negotiated with (the company). Input from pre-assessment will impact extensively on program structure” How to plan, cost and implement within accountability requirements? TAFE Division

11. Aged Care Facility • Certificate 3, 4 in Community Services (Aged Care) • State government funding • 35 staff in just this facility over 2 years; on the job training is matched to specific competencies from the TP; focus of the training is ongoing professional development designed to regularly train in all areas of theory and practice in this residential aged care facility. TAFE Division

12. Aged Care Facility Issues: • Professional development required doesn’t always neatly match the TP; • Often have to provide non-accredited training to meet the specific facility requirement – extra design involved; facility’s concern is the training, before the accreditation – however, if no accreditation, then no government funding . TAFE Division

13. Creating and Sustaining Sound Industry Partnerships Threats • Narrow interpretation by funding authorities of TP’s • Overly bureacratic responses to accountability • Lack of TAFE workforce succession planning and reskilling • Tension in allocating scarce SCH between community / regional obligations and statewide industry training • Federally funded ‘skill centres’ TAFE Division

14. Creating and Sustaining Sound Industry Partnerships Opportunities • Build capacity of teachers to facilitate and managers to negotiate and ‘sell’ learning & training • Develop sustainable partnerships which evolve to all training being outsourced to the preferred TAFE supplier, nationally and internationally • Develop understanding of the flexibility of TP’s by teachers and industry • AND TAFE Division

15. Find a better way to fund workplace delivery….. Industry is reluctant to pay - it wants guaranteed workplace change outcomes, and a key say in training content at local level TAFE’s can’t afford provision of the demanded level of customisation to individual need in return for training hours purchased by government Government can’t afford to fund the real cost of flexible, customised training and education and quality outcomes TAFE Division

16. Lack of incentives to enterprises to develop a training culture in partnership with TAFE Confused government messages about access to government funded training, and industry’s responsibility to contribute to its cost Inconsistent , even ad hoc, allocation of government funds to industry and providers TAFE Division

17. So… Either we abandon outcomes for all via a training package customisation approach, OR, we get creative … EG. Government purchases from RTO’s the consulting and design process which ensures enterprise outcomes, and then industry pays for the delivery OR Government rolls existing worker and profile funding together and develops a fair and equitable formula for industry based training, say 50: 50 TAFE Division