How to successfully design and implement a Vocational Education and Training (VET) System that works (C) Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. Intellectual Property of Dr. Bruce D. Watson, DEd Melbourne, www.headstogether.com.au For Private individual use and comment.
Introduction To date, VET policy has been driven by advice from commentators using a flawed evidence base. None have grasped the scale of need for educationist input, nor understood the full effects of not doing that. The current VET policies assume that an evidence-base was established before implementation but that is not the case. The current VET policies are based on flawed assumptions made at the beginning. The only way to retrieve what is left of an ailing and abused System is to seek 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 from public funds.
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1. Parliamentarians’ Professional Development: The Need for Reform This book addresses the education and training of Members of Parliament (MPs). It examines existing training programs offered in various countries around the world, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses and makes recommendations for a new approach, which aligns the professional development of MPs to 21st century requirements. Contributors address the role of parliamentarians, how to prepare them for their multi-faceted functions, the importance of ethics in any program, the requirement for more sophisticated adult learning approaches, human resource implications and the need to reform existing education and training models. The book will appeal to scholars in the fields of political science, adult education and human resource management, as well as to parliamentarians interested in enhancing their skills so as to perform more efficiently and effectively. http://bit.ly/1R5O0d4 2. Multi-level thinking required In the next 10 - 15 years, Training Packages will be the least of our and industry's concerns; they will largely be so outdated and irrelevant, and so will other related Australian voc.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".
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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. 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. 3. Adopt a multi-disciplinary, appropriate evidence-based approach Reject self-professed, subjective "VET experts", especially those with conflicts of interest such as profit making, and adopt a multidisciplinary, good 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 3
constraints, fail to invest in training, and do not view the education system as a potential resource. 4. New Philosophy of VET required There is evidence then that we need to review the philosophies, the people and the processes of national VET 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. VET reform must be seen within the broader context of urban, regional and rural community development not corporate rhetoric. 5. Rebuild the public service and stop unnecessary outsourcing There has been a practice for government, in particular, to outsource what should be the legitimate work of the public service to consultants. Do more to ensure that public servants can do their job better. And one of the ways to do that is to make sure they do the work that is their core responsibility, as opposed to outsourcing everything. Banks, for example, bemoan the decline in the number of public servants with the necessary quantitative and analytical skills. There is also varied quality and motives of consultants involved in developing policy. While there are highly professional consultancies and consultants, there are also consultants who cut corners, provided superficial reports and second-guess what ministers wanted to hear.
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Superficial consultants have different motives to professional public servants, for obvious reasons. 6. 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 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 lowmedium 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
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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. 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. Policy focus on regions as centres for learning and innovation and on regional policy in building human and social capital (see OECD 2001); A focus on regions in terms of disparities in employment, income levels, educational attainment and other social indicators and how this relates to skills and workforce development; Regional planning providers and government agencies in terms of the catchment area for providers and in terms of co-ordination or funding and delivery across different providers; and
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Regions as a focus for co-ordination of government service provision across different agencies. 7. Public managers need to be 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. 8. Enforced and encouraged responsible business community role for Registered Training Organisations 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. 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 related business or RTO. 7
9. Agree on a 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" in development of the VET System. 10. Agree on a definition of VET consistent with international views Determine and apply an agreed System-wide definition/conception of “vocational education and training” to ensure Australian VET is well placed internationally. 11. Encourage and support better and all-encompassing Systemwide 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 the 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. 12. Design and implement a Collaborative – led VET System Establish a Collaborative-led VTE System including ways to determine and predict as best as possible, what employment opportunities exist post training, not just market-demand spin and propaganda. 8
Deconstruct online and offline echo chambers. 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 Voc. Training and Education Educationist (not an ombudsman) to start drawing the current VET System factions together from across all jurisdictions. 13. Establish Institutes of TAFE as the core framework for the VET 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 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.
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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. 14. Redevelop institutes of TAFE into Polytechnics The TAFE and VET "brand" has been so badly tarnished by the (prior known) free market outcomes of privatised, marketised, commodified Australian vocational education and training System, there needs to be a radical revision of the whole System for the benefit of students and employers, based on contemporary vocational education principles, not corporate rhetoric. “Federated” polytechnic model for the state’s TAFE colleges to jointly offer higher education in under-serviced regional and outer metropolitan areas, to address gaps between areas of population growth and higher education provision in Melbourne and around the state. [McKenzie, 2015] 15. 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'!
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16. Agree on a 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. 17. Change the name of the VET System Drop the VET (“animals”, “war veterans”) “brand”. Change it to VTE or something else to avoid misleading and confusing acronym. 18. Remove and replace the open market, privatisation, marketisation and commodification model of VET 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. 11
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. 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. 19. Expect employers to contribute financially to Vocational Educational Education and training A very different approach to employers is needed, one where employers are not just consumers of skills, but are part of the System, including a funding contribution, for producing them, i.e., 12
not just in telling the System what they think they want without an indepth understanding of voc. ed. and training. Rather by providing some funding and opportunities for trainees 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. 20. Ensure a level playing field funding model for VET and TAFE 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 and delivery. Social policy objectives remain important elements in VET provision. 21. Drop the corporatised/industry model of education and training The "industry-led” VET System promotes Competency Based Training. Competency Based Training and, therefore, Training Packages are based on the outdated, behaviourist model of education and training that incorrectly treats education and trainees as commodities or products. Determine and implement a contemporary educationist principled vocational education and training model
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22. Stop funding free enterprise profits with public monies and enforce. Determine and adopt funding models that take into account different Private and Public RTOs Legislative responsibilities, plus capability measures such as scope of courses, credentials of teachers, employer and student feedback, employment outcomes and quality measures. 23. 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. 24. Apply much higher governance standards to RTOs Ensure that the commercial interests of RTO owners are separated from educational decisions which should be made by an academic board. This governance model already applies to private colleges which offer university-level courses. 25. Deal with the increasing complexity while finding a balance Use funding provisions to alter the behaviour of users to encourage individuals and companies to invest into learning. This increases significantly the complexity of funding mechanisms, as well as the task of those who “play” on these mechanisms. However, reducing complexity for employers is often be achieved at the price of increasing it significantly for RTOs. 14
Determine and implement improved coordination and regulatory and/or governance mechanisms that allow higher level flexibility while preserving social control; “coordinated flexibility”. 26. Restructure VET- Fee Help Learners/trainees must be protected from public debt not understood or not agreed to. 27. Reduce the number of Private Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) Require RTO managers/CEOs to be registered by Australian Institute of Management (AIM) and Australian College of Educators as a minimum Professional Standard Allow RTOs to develop its own qualifications and require them to be endorsed by "industry" and 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 RTOs by a couple of thousand. Only providers that are serious and have the necessary resources and capacity would develop their own qualifications. This would create a system in qualifications, rather than a market for the price charged for qualifications, which only drives down fees and quality. If too small to be viable according to economy of scale, Private RTOs should get out of the voc. ed. and training "business" or smaller Private RTOs could amalgamate or enter into specialist contracts with Institutes of TAFE by utilising the business concept/fact of economy 15
of scale. (How are 5,000 Private RTOs with individual administration and reporting systems being checked for compliance?) 28. Re-establish 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. 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. Where analysis indicates there is not a supply deficiency, the occupations should be taken off skill supply and funding. All courses can still be available subject to normal administrative requirements as full fee courses. Be aware, many employers want a cheap employee ('cheapie'). 29. Utilise and adapt existing public sector structures for provision of VET Consider using valuable, existing Statewide and Nationwide community assets and organisations, such as Neighbourhood Houses (not-for-profit organisations), for accredited and funded 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. 16
Determine and implement transition and recurrent funding to ensure Neighbourhood Houses can easily meet ASQA Standards. Develop and implement shared roles, such as Compliance Managers for regional groups of Neighbourhood Houses to reduce duplication of costs and ensure consistency of ASQA Standards. Actively fund collaborative ventures between Neighbourhood Houses and Institutes of TAFE/Polytechnics. 30. Remove 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 VET documentation can 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 Leclerc as shown in Diagram 1. below.
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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 ‌model‌involves 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 Terminology 18
Competence describes what individuals know or are able to do in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes at a Competency particular point in time In this context, a person who provides “the competency”, Source for instance a healthcare worker. Proficiency level Degree of mastery of a skill or area of knowledge 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 Capability his or her performance Subject matter content Knowledge, skills, attitudes, attributes 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 Taxonomy roles. In this context, evidence may be thought of as successful teaching and learning outcomes including summative Evidence assessment. In this context, it may be thought of as formative Tool assessment and teaching methodologies Situation Context
31. Determine and 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 19
broad concept of eudaimonia. This is 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. 32. Do not implement contestable models maintenance Do not implement tendering for development of “Competencies/Capabilities” development and maintenance. Rather, involve highly skilled people, including educationists and broad networks of VET System stakeholders/beneficiaries through direct consultation, not just invitations to comment or complete a survey. 33. Reduce the number of VET qualifications There are too many, too specialised, narrow focussed courses with low enrolments. 34. Remove entirely the concept of “under-pinning knowledge” and deliberately include appropriate level theoretical and practical knowledge as a VET program outcome, consistent with Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Determine and implement a balance of theory and experience in VET programs including ‘real’ knowledge not “under-pinning knowledge” (which is interpreted as not to be directly taught). The displacement of theoretical knowledge from Training Packages in VET reinforces the second-class status of VET and contributes to deprofessionalising and deskilling teachers’ work. 20
Get over the precious “Theory” versus “Experience” argument. Both are needed for trainees to be effective longterm.
35. Recognise and use the fact that “Education” and “Vocational Education and Training” 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 Training. Educate and train VTE Trainers beyond the current minimum compliance 21
level. They must be educationists in their own right with knowledge and expertise in education, training together with assessment concepts and practice. 36. Include vocational education andragogy/heutagogy in the education of VET Trainers 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 teachercentric 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. 37. Ensure that the VET System is 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.
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38. Ensure VET System, including public and private RTOs, are 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. 39. Ensure that the VET System, including, public and private RTOs, are 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. 40. Develop and implement Standards for continuing professional development and professional learning by VET Trainers/Educators/RTO Managers Professional development strategies are needed to assist with the processes of energising teaching and training approaches applied in the VET sector at a local and national level. Without continual enlightenment of educators’ and RTO managers skills and knowledge in both the technical competency of their chosen discipline and in their teaching and management competencies/capabilities, educators and RTO managers will become stagnant and fall behind in their professional practice.
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41. Increase learning capability deliberately as part of the VET System Teaching approaches that aim to develop students’ learning capabilities and provide evidence of improved learning of trainees must be routinely demonstrated in all RTOs. It is recognised that 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. 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. 42. Establish enforceable Regulation and Quality in the VET System Anyone can make a complaint to ASQA about a provider including delivery of training and assessment. This page explains the complaints process for non-student complainants. http://bit.ly/1D3Oq6S VET System 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 24
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 business outcomes such as "economy", "efficiency", “value for money” and "quantitative performance measurement" rather than on the purpose, organisation, quality or outcomes of the work being undertaken. Recent cases of 'dodgy' RTOs should renew the importance of excelling at learning and knowledge creation and bring teaching, learning and assessment to a primary importance. 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. 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 25
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, institutions and instructors may spend more time gaming the system than they do on improvement. Implement social reporting and triple bottom line reporting by all RTOs. 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 cause a drop in overall quality at the State level. States must have input to National Regulation directly and not as tokenism. Regionalise VET Regulation and Support so that both activities are as close to the VET provision sites as is practicable. 43. During the transition to "New VET", reinvigorate the global provision of Australian VET programs off-shore with direct Government investment. 44. Review and adjust Vocational Education and Training Legislation and Standards in line with above Making Laws – http://bit.ly/1bfKcDk
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45. Suggested General Principles of a VET System 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 levied on 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 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.
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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 parttime 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 be systematically collected, published and used for evidence-based planning and evaluation purposes. 28
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] ---------------------ENDS
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