Current Challenges and Possible Directions for TAFE Capability and Capacity Building in Australia

1. Current Challenges and Possible Directions for TAFE Capability and Capacity Building in Australia Virginia Simmons CEO 4 February, 2010

2. Total Students Female Students People with a Disability Non ESB Indigenous No. (‘000) 1,197.5 586.1 83.5 172.3 59.7 Government- funded VET Students 2008 % 100.0 48.9 7.0 14.4 5.0 Pass% 79.7 79.4 70.1 73.6 69.1 Total all VET students: 1,694.4m Participation rate: 11.3% (stable) Source: NCVER 2

3. Council of Australian Governments (COAG) 2020 Targets • Halve the proportion of Australians aged 20 – 64 years without a Cert III qualification • Double the number of higher qualifications completions (Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas) • Raise the proportion of young people achieving Yr 12 or equivalent qualification to 90% by 2015 • Halve the gap for indigenous students in Yr 12 or equivalent attainment by 2020 3

4. Key National Issues • Participation rates • Qualification levels • Impact on national productivity – now and in 2050 Response? 4

5. The ‘Tertiary’ Landscape – Post Bradley As at July 1, 2009: • The two Ministerial Councils responsible for VET (MCVTE) and Higher Education (MCEETYA) have been replaced by one new Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education & Employment (MCTEE) • The National Senior Officials Committee has been replaced by the Tertiary Senior Officials Committee

6. Defining ‘Tertiary’ OECD - qualification-based: • AQF Level 5 (Diploma) level and above? • Post year 12 and above? Australia – sector-based: • Higher Education? • Higher Education plus TAFE? ( i.e. 56 TAFE institutes) • Higher Education plus VET? (i.e. 4,500+ RTOs) 6

7. Defining ‘Tertiary’ • TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) and Universities Australia (UA) currently completing a joint project to provide policy advice on this issue. • TDA Board position: • Need for common agreement on the definition of • ‘tertiary’ • Need for the current National Protocols for Higher • Education to be extended to cover agreed ‘tertiary’ • providers 7

8. Policy Imperatives Social Inclusion Improved Tertiary Pathways Improved Quality Better TAFE Infrastructure Sustainability/ Green Skills International Education 8

9. Policy Imperative: Improved Tertiary Pathways • A single Ministerial Council (MCTEE) • Expanding the ambit of Skills Australia to include HE • Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework • 2009 Project on Tertiary Pathways Victorian Tertiary Education Plan • Capital Funds for TAFE Infrastructure • Vocational Education Broadband Network • Possible extension of NCVER’s role to include HE 9

10. Policy Imperative: Better TAFE Infrastructure • Education Infrastructure Fund (HE, TAFE and ACFE): $4.065 billion in 2008 -13 • ‘Better TAFE Facilities’: $2m -$8m per TAFE Institute • ‘Training Infrastructure Investment for Tomorrow:’ up to $10m per TAFE Institute • Vocational Education Broadband Network 10

11. Policy Imperative: Improved Quality • Decision to establish a Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) in 2010,commencing with HE and then including VET in 2013 • Expediting of the National VET Regulator to commence in 2011 • VET Training Products for the Twenty-First Century – review of Training Packages • Apprenticeship Taskforce 11

12. Policy Imperative: Social Inclusion • ‘Youth Compact’ guaranteeing an entitlement to government-subsidised training for 15-19 year olds and for 20-24 year olds pursuing a higher qualification • Indigenous targets • Access to federal government funding for ACFE • Compact with retrenched workers • PPPs • Childrens’ Services places 12

13. Policy Imperative: Sustainability/Green Skills • Prime Minister announces $100 million plan to create 50,000 green jobs and training opportunities • Living Sustainably: the Australian Government's National Action Plan for Education for Sustainability, Dept. of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts • National Policy and Action Plan for Sustainability in the VET Sector (MCVTE) • National Quality Council Sustainability Action Group - voluntary certification for ‘green’ providers- embedding sustainability in training packages • National Green Skills Agreement – Dec. 09 13

14. Policy Driver: ‘Fix’ International Education Some Government Responses • Ministerial Missions – Federal and State • Senate Inquiry into the Welfare of International Students • Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Amendment Bill • Senate Inquiry into the ESOS Act • Review of International Education (Bruce Baird) • International Student Roundtable • Review of the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) • Review of the National VET Regulator 14

15. Barriers to Policy Implementation The Myth of the National Training System In each state: • Different governance arrangements • Different levels of autonomy  commercial capability • Different policy positions on the public and private sector • Different approaches to market design • Different funding levels  staffing practices • Different fee structures • Different public perceptions of VET 15

16. Barriers to Policy Implementation Inadequate data on which to base decisions • Private sector training • Commercial activity • Off-shore quality 16

17. OECD Assessment of Australian VET - Strengths The engagement of employers is strong The national qualification system is well established and understood The VET system is flexible and allows for a fair amount of local autonomy and innovation to adapt learning to local circumstances The data and research on most VET issues are good. Source: ‘Learning for Jobs’ OECD Review of Vocational Education and Training -Australia, 2009 17

18. OECD Assessment - Challenges 1 The division of responsibilities between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments is unclear Principles underpinning funding are not apparent and are inconsistent with human capital policies and principles The use of skills forecasting creates some difficulties There are some weaknesses and gaps in the relevant data Source: ‘Learning for Jobs’ OECD Review of Vocational Education and Training -Australia, 2009 18

19. OECD Assessment - Challenges 2 Apprenticeships are rigid and seem to depend on duration rather than competence Training package development and implementation processes are inefficient The ageing of the teacher labour force is a serious problem. Source: ‘Learning for Jobs’ OECD Review of Vocational Education and Training -Australia, 2009 19

20. Some Implications for TAFE • Acknowledgement that achievement of the COAG targets relies on TAFE • Pressure on universities to cooperate more closely with TAFE • Emergence of TAFE institutes as providers/facilitators of seamless pathways: school / TAFE / Higher Education • Impact on provider differentiation within VET: large / small; public / private; self-accrediting / non self-accrediting • Changes in International Education 20

21. Trends in Teaching & Learning in Today’s Australian VET Figgis J, 2009, Regenerating the Australian Landscape of Professional VET Practice, NCVER Practitioner-driven changes to teaching and learning 21

22. Trend 1: Assigning authentic learning tasks Authentic tasks are different from simply practical tasks. Trend 2: Peer learning Authentic tasks also demand that learners work in groups, because the scope and standard are often greater – deliberately greater – than any single student could accomplish 22

23. Trend 3: e-learning technologies • as a tool for communication to and among learners • as a platform for engaging tasks • a source of resources Trend 4: Work-based learning Enterprises are asking VET to play a role in overall workforce planning and capability development 23

24. Trend 5: Personalised learning The best teaching – old and new – has at its heart a high- quality relationship between practitioner and learner, no matter what the context or mode of delivery Trend 6: Devolution of expertise within RTOs in support of fresh practice Serious attention is being paid to ways in which the capability of VET practitioners is, and can be, enhanced and extended 24

25. The Missing Trend? Fresh thinking about assessment Should we be asking for diverse and intelligent innovations in assessment in the sector? 25

26. Summary The challenges are many: • Positioning – TAFE/HE/’tertiary’ • Participation – of students • Political – government policy • Perceptions – of industry and community • Pedagogical – for learnng and teaching • Performance – in global market 26

27. Thank you: • TAFE Development Centre • Monash University • John Levin and Rick Wagoner • Participants 27

28. Table 1 Student suggestions for improvement Percentages will total more than 100% as students were able make multiple suggestions. Source: NCVER Student Outcomes Survey, 2006.