www.monash.edu.au

Richard Cooney & Michael LongCentre for the Economics of Education & Training (CEET)

A Comparative Perspective on VET. Recent developments in Australia

www.monash.edu.au2

Overview

• Australia has a federal system with 6 states, 2 territories, 1 federal government

• States and Territories are responsible for education BUT the Commonwealth holds the purse strings

• Coordination is through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) and for education the Ministerial Council on Employment, Education, Training & Youth Affairs (MCEETYA)

www.monash.edu.au3

Reforms to the VET System

• Reforms in the 1990’s created the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA). This body established a national, competency-based VET system for the first time in Australia.

• This is to be disestablished and its functions subsumed by the federal department of education BUT this is being contested by the states

www.monash.edu.au4

Vocational Education and Training (VET)

• Three sectors participate:

– Senior Secondary Schools– VET Sector– Higher Education

www.monash.edu.au5

Senior Secondary Schools

• Separate technical and academic schools no longer exist in Australia

• Many initiatives here to improve the variety of offerings in secondary school and improve retention

• Some overlap with VET sector. Schools offer some VET qualifications whilst TAFE Colleges offer Senior Secondary School Certificates

www.monash.edu.au6

School Retention

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

. '82 '84 '86 '88 '90 '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04Year

App

aren

t ret

entio

n th

roug

h se

c. s

choo

l %

www.monash.edu.au7

Initiatives in Senior Secondary Schools

• VET in schools (VETis)

• School-based New Apprenticeships

• Creation of Vocational Senior School Certificates (e.g. Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning)

• Creation of Australian Technical Colleges

www.monash.edu.au8

Linking Schools to the Labour Market

• A mix of State and Commonwealth government initiatives, often overlapping and competing e.g. Local Learning & Employment Networks (state) and Local Community Partnerships (commonwealth)

• Managed Individual Pathways for early school leavers

• Surveys and follow-up those completing secondary school.

www.monash.edu.au9

VET Sector

A complex sector with many stakeholders:

• Technical and Further Education (TAFE)• Adult & Community Education (ACE)• Firm Provided Training• Private Training Companies

www.monash.edu.au10

VET Sector

• Public VET is funded by the states and territories BUT the commonwealth supports many labour market programs with a training element

• Policy has been to establish a training market with contestable public funding provided to all stakeholders

• Private funds from students and employers are also used

www.monash.edu.au11

VET Sector

Publicly funded VET has:

• In 2003 1.7 million students enrolled in 2.1 million courses undertaking 370 million hours of training

• Of these, 10 % of students enrolled in advanced courses, 58 % in certificate courses and 32 % in non-award courses

www.monash.edu.au12

VET Enrolments

0

5

10

15

20

25

I II III IV Dip

% Enrolements byQualification

www.monash.edu.au13

VET Sector

• VET is most popular with 15-19 yo (26.8%) and 20-24 yo (20.8 %)

• Enrolments have grown throughout the 1990’s. 1.1 million students in 1993 to 1.7 million students in 2003

• Increased fees in higher education (25 % in 2005) have seen numbers in VET grow even further since 2003

www.monash.edu.au14

Adult & Community Education

• Principally provides adult literacy and numeracy training

• Much of this not readily captured in VET statistics. In 1999 there were 1.3 million enrolments in ACE but only 0.5 million were in institutions covered by official statistical collection

www.monash.edu.au15

Firm Provided Training

• In 2001 employees completed 143 million hours of training. 90% of this was paid for by their employer

• Firms can deliver nationally accredited training and receive public funds

• Firms also pay for short course and specialised non-award training

www.monash.edu.au16

Initiatives in VET

• Industry Training Packages now specify outcomes only. Curriculum material is a supplement

• There has been a growth of on-the-job delivery of packages. This has eliminated time served as a basis for completing qualificationsBUT

• Many teachers became assessors only• There are concerns about the quality of the training

www.monash.edu.au17

Initiatives in VET

• There are also concerns about the returns from training as much training only addresses current skill gaps

• There have been problems with the interface between sectors as schools and universities assess academic merit and not competency

www.monash.edu.au18

Initiatives in VET

• Industry Training Advisory Boards have been abolished and replaced by sectoral Skills Councils

• Policy is to develop an ‘employer-led’ system. Unions and social partners have been excluded from the new Skills CouncilsBUT

• Employer expenditure on training has declined for the last decade

www.monash.edu.au19

Initiatives in VET

• Entry-level training has been extended to new sectors through traineeships and New Apprenticeships BUT most traineeships are at Certificate I or II level and there is much recycling of young people through traineeships

• Numbers in traditional apprenticeships declined and Australia now faces skill shortages

• Group Training now accounts for the majority of apprentices in traditional trades areas employed in SME’s

www.monash.edu.au20

Initiatives in VET

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Year

Com

men

cem

ents

% o

f 15-

29 y

ear-

olds

Trainee

Total

Apprentice

www.monash.edu.au21

VET Links to the Labour Market

• These are strong through work-based traineeships and apprenticeships

BUT• Lack of articulation between courses inhibits skill

upgrading

• Lack of articulation between sectors limits career development

www.monash.edu.au22

Higher Education

• Made up of public universities, private universities and public institutes and colleges

• Universities are divided into research intensive universities, new universities and technology universities

• Legislative control by the states but funding from the commonwealth

www.monash.edu.au23

Higher Education

Trends in higher education:

• Domestic enrolments have grown through the 1990’s

• International enrolments have also grown. Full-fee paying international students now represent 22.6 % of enrolments

www.monash.edu.au24

Higher Education

0100200300400500600700800

90 92 94 96 98 0 2

Enrolements -Domestic

www.monash.edu.au25

Initiatives in Higher Education

• Promotion of a private higher education sector in Australia through:

• Competition for research funding• Purchase of places and student loans• Establishment of teaching only institutions

www.monash.edu.au26

Initiatives in Higher Education

• Universities offer many vocationally oriented courses. Established courses such as medicine, engineering have been supplemented by new vocational courses e.g. wine making, surfing, sports management

• Some overlap with the VET sector. There are some dual sector institutions, especially the technology universities, BUT

• There are few pathways from VET into university

www.monash.edu.au27

Links to the Labour Market

• New vocational courses have strong links to industries and often a work experience component

• Many established courses also have a work experience component e.g. school placement, internships, etc.

www.monash.edu.au28

Achievements

• Many initiatives to help young people transition from school to work, especially early school leavers

• Many new vocational courses in all sectors

• Leading to high levels of participation in post-secondary education

www.monash.edu.au29

Problems

• Loose coupling between educational sectors

• Lack of clear pathways and overlap of courses in different sectors

• Responsibility for policy, funding and administration is diffuse

www.monash.edu.au30

Problems

• Loose relationship of training to the labour market

– Vocational training is becoming more industry specific and firm specific

– Transitions between employment after entry-level training are not well established. Skill upgrading is difficult. Return to work is difficult.