tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/tafe-crisis-11882/articlesTAFE crisis – The Conversation2018-10-02T20:05:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1027702018-10-02T20:05:58Z2018-10-02T20:05:58ZThe vocational education sector needs a plan and action, not more talk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238008/original/file-20180926-149982-141jeno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is already a substantial list of research reports, reviews and inquiries into issues in the vocational education sector which could be used to build an action plan.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of a series on the Future of VET exploring issues within the sector and how to improve the decline in enrolments and shortages of qualified people in vocational jobs. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Future+of+VET">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Some 20 years ago, the Australian vocational education system was regarded as world class. Sadly, this is <a href="https://www.tda.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Report-lhmi-Bridge-to-opportunity.pdf">no longer the case</a> when compared to systems in places such as Canada, the Netherlands, Germany and even China. </p>
<p>Australia’s vocational education system <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/vocationaled/Final_Report">has been bedevilled</a> by competing jurisdiction control, political ideology, chronic under-funding, piecemeal reforms, rampant rorting by a small number of corporate private providers, and a disappointing and surprisingly high level of policy confusion. </p>
<p>In February this year, Labor <a href="http://www.tanyaplibersek.com/speech_universities_australia_conference">announced</a> it would commit to a generational review of the VET sector in Australia if elected at the next election.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-from-victorias-tafe-mistakes-34646">Learning from Victoria's TAFE mistakes</a>
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<p>There is already a substantial list of research reports, reviews and inquiries into issues within the sector. A well-crafted plan can be distilled from this, which, combined with proactive leadership and action, is what the sector needs. Not yet another all-encompassing, long-winded review that will inevitably run aground due to the short-term federal political cycle. </p>
<h2>The workforce is changing fast</h2>
<p>Our society and economy rely on the vocational system to be highly effective and responsive. After all, <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/collection/students-and-courses-collection/total-vet-students-and-courses">just over 24%</a> of our population aged between 15 and 64 years is actively engaged with vocational education every year. This figure is even higher for young people – 46% of 15 to 19-year-olds are involved with vocational education. It’s a system geared to cater for mass and equitable participation. </p>
<p>This is a good thing. </p>
<p>The speed of change for those in the workforce is rapid. This will remain a constant for the foreseeable future. We only have to look to the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/07/the-skills-needed-to-survive-the-robot-invasion-of-the-workplace">World Economic Forum</a> and reports from the <a href="https://www.fya.org.au/our-research/">Foundation for Young Australians</a> for independent advice on the kind of skills our workforce and enterprises will need in coming months and years. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238292/original/file-20180927-48647-rqotws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238292/original/file-20180927-48647-rqotws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238292/original/file-20180927-48647-rqotws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238292/original/file-20180927-48647-rqotws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238292/original/file-20180927-48647-rqotws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238292/original/file-20180927-48647-rqotws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238292/original/file-20180927-48647-rqotws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">While Labor’s committment to a generational review of the VET sector is commendable, what we need is action, not more reviews.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>These reports suggest a new focus on technical and enterprise skills as being of equal importance. This is neatly captured by the idea of the “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02691728.2016.1249435?src=recsys&journalCode=tsep20">T-shaped graduate</a>”. This is a term commonly used in Europe to capture the idea of a graduate having both specific technical skills and knowledge, and the enterprise skills of collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, complex problem solving and creativity. </p>
<p>Australia needs a workforce with a new set of skills and the flexibility and capacity to adapt to even more change. Vocational education can deliver this workforce, but for this to happen the sector needs to be given autonomy and political trust. Trying to change the system piece by piece will result in a camel instead of the thoroughbred Australia needs. </p>
<h2>What change is most urgently needed?</h2>
<p>First, <a href="https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/2564220/lhmi-vet-sector-diversity-briefing-web.pdf">identify</a> the mature, comprehensive, low-risk providers and give them a new status, independence from government control, and operational autonomy so they can <a href="http://www.vta.vic.edu.au/PRESENTATION_PDFS/Vic-TAFE-Strengths-Benefits-Rprt-web.pdf">lead the change</a> we need. </p>
<p>This new category could include many TAFEs or TAFE divisions of dual sector universities (which provide vocational and higher education, such as RMIT and Swinburne), a number of not-for-profit providers, and a smaller number of private registered training organisations (RTOs). This classification of provider should be highly prized, not awarded lightly, or in great numbers. </p>
<p>Victoria is fortunate to have a number of mature TAFEs ready to be recognised in this category. These include <a href="https://holmesglen.edu.au/">Holmesglen</a>, <a href="https://www.boxhill.edu.au/">Box Hill Institute</a> and <a href="https://www.chisholm.edu.au/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw3KzdBRDWARIsAIJ8TMSbdYSJaPRCZTDZ_AQt3l5IJYvBgLkPc4IIVcYJdj7yFSNFHvMjwFUaAoVHEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds">Chisholm Institute</a>, to name a few. Arguably, a number of the whole-of-state TAFEs, such as TAFE QLD, should also be recognised in this category. These TAFEs already deliver across the gap between vocational education and higher education. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238246/original/file-20180927-48650-nkf643.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238246/original/file-20180927-48650-nkf643.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238246/original/file-20180927-48650-nkf643.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238246/original/file-20180927-48650-nkf643.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238246/original/file-20180927-48650-nkf643.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238246/original/file-20180927-48650-nkf643.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/238246/original/file-20180927-48650-nkf643.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Box Hill Institute is an example of a TAFE that is mature, comprehensive, and low-risk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Second, the group of providers should be given long-term equitable funding, based on an agreed framework with clear and measurable performance outcomes, as well as self-accrediting status to respond quickly to the changes in skills required of new and existing employees.</p>
<p>Performance outcomes would include student participation, progression and completion targets, and be tailored to institutional missions. Those outcomes should also to include specific regional innovation and development targets, with a clear focus on small and medium sized enterprises. Australia is largely a small and medium enterprise nation. Small to medium enterprises are a natural fit with highly responsive higher vocational education institutions. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-all-vocational-training-providers-are-stacking-up-32136">Not all vocational training providers are stacking up</a>
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<p>It’s this group of providers that will change the system and provide the service that business, communities and students need. Creating this new status of provider will enable education that delivers educational services across an increasingly blurry and arguably artificial divide between vocational education and higher education, with a focus on applied and work-integrated learning, and problem solving. </p>
<p>While we applaud the federal Opposition for committing to <a href="http://www.tanyaplibersek.com/media_release_labor_announces_shake_up_of_tafe_and_unis_friday_23_february_2018">a generational review</a>, they’re not the government (at least not yet), and we already know where the issues lie. Reports from the <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/expenditure-on-education-and-training-in-australia-2017/">Mitchell Institute</a> have provided compelling evidence of the need to restore funding for vocational education. Industry bodies such as the <a href="https://www.tda.edu.au/media-releases/tafe-welcomes-business-councils-bold-plan-for-tertiary-education/">Business Council</a> have called for a reinstatement of TAFE as a central part of the vocational system. </p>
<p>We don’t need more temperature-taking. We need to begin work on the actual implementation plan and action. This can begin now – not in three or four years’ time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102770/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Schubert is a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne, formerly in the role of Associate Professor at the LH Martin Institute, with previous research work funded by the Victorian Department of Education, as well as tertiary education associations</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leo Goedegebuure receives funding from Federal and State governments as well as professional bodies for tertiary education and innovation research. </span></em></p>We already have all the research reports, reviews and inquiries we need to make reform to the VET sector happen. What we need is proactive leadership and action.Ruth Schubert, Senior Fellow, LH Martin Institute, The University of MelbourneLeo Goedegebuure, Director, LH Martin Institute, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/961022018-05-04T03:50:21Z2018-05-04T03:50:21ZFree TAFE in Victoria: who benefits and why other states should consider it<p>The Victorian government’s budget announcement on May 1 included a significant reinvestment in TAFE. Courses in <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/educationstate/Pages/freetafe.aspx">30 key skill priority areas</a> will be free from the beginning of 2019. </p>
<p>This bold move signals a shift away from the <a href="http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A67289">market approach</a> to technical and vocational education. This approach saw many people caught up in <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-serious-matter-tafe-freezes-enrolments-amid-concerns-of-rorting-20170919-gyk867.html">fees debacles</a> who received low quality training through the dodgy market practices of predatory education providers pursuing financial advantage and profit. This policy puts TAFE squarely back at the centre of a trusted technical and vocational education and training system. </p>
<h2>What’s changing?</h2>
<p>The market approach treated TAFEs as no different from private providers, putting them in direct competition with each other. Yet, TAFE institutions are not able to just target profitable courses and are required to offer the social support in ways private providers do not. </p>
<p>The Victorian government’s new <a href="https://www.budget.vic.gov.au/explore-our-priorities/right-skills-job">budget policy for TAFE</a> represents a measured shift away from an over focus on how easily bodies can move in and out of education markets. TAFE institutions across the state can now consolidate their role as key public education institutions. These institutions are part of the critical infrastructure that builds community and individual abilities to cope with and adjust to changing social and economic circumstances. </p>
<p>TAFE has occupied that middle institutional role of attending to local, community and industry and employment needs in ways that universities and school don’t and can’t. </p>
<p>State governments, as the owners of TAFE institutions, have a vital role in ensuring skills and education infrastructure is sustainable. This budget investment moves a significant way toward ensuring just that. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-vet-loan-scheme-to-exclude-shonky-providers-66507">New VET loan scheme to exclude shonky providers</a>
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</em>
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<p>The TAFE teaching workforce in Victoria recently reached <a href="https://www.aeuvic.asn.au/new-tafe-agreement-puts-teachers-centre-rebuilding-tafe">a new enterprise agreement</a> that will also improve teaching conditions. This will ensure TAFE has a workforce that can ensure quality education. </p>
<h2>Who benefits?</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/educationstate/Pages/freetafe.aspx">free courses</a> being made available from 2019 will significantly contribute to skills mix required for the Australian state with the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3218.0">fastest growing population</a>. Many of the pre-apprenticeship, Certificate II level courses will open options for senior school aged students not seeking a path to university, and provide them with the opportunities to learn skills for work. </p>
<p>Certificate III courses in agriculture, aged care, civil construction and concreting will ensure Victoria develops the right skills mix for the growing population. It will also ensure skilled workers can participate in the road and <a href="https://www.budget.vic.gov.au/explore-our-priorities/right-skills-job">rail infrastructure projects</a> that have already started. </p>
<p>Metropolitan and rural communities around Victoria will also benefit immensely. In some rural settings, where school <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/opinion/the-education-system-has-failed-students-in-rural-and-regional-areas/news-story/ebac4766ef978588f4754068aee0da14">completion rates are lower</a> than those in metropolitan areas, Certificate II, III and IV courses will provide a way for young people to stay connected to education and ensure transitions to employment. </p>
<p>The abolition of fees for diploma level courses in nursing, building and construction, community services and accounting is a game changer. It will ensure TAFEs in Victoria are full service education institutions. This means pre-tertiary and tertiary level education options will be freely available to people who will make their future through going to TAFE. Tertiary education in the form of diplomas has been a tradition for many individuals, families and communities. </p>
<h2>Private providers say the policy isn’t equitable</h2>
<p>The peak member organisation representing private providers, <a href="https://www.acpet.edu.au/">ACPET</a>, was quick to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/private-training-providers-fear-they-ll-be-penalised-under-tafe-boost-20180502-p4zcva.html?csp=d42371e611111c536bdbc91b68e4a696%200">express concern</a> about this budget initiative. This bold move by the Victorian government to fund publicly-owned TAFE institutions is being lambasted as not equitable. This notion of equity is curious, as it’s more concerned with equity as revenue and capital, rather than access and participation for those who are often left behind as a consequence of social changes. </p>
<p>Private providers will not be funded by the state government as part of this initiative, so they have argued students will be limited in their choice of providers. </p>
<h2>Re-centring TAFE as a key institution</h2>
<p>The Victorian government’s commitment to TAFE through the provision of free courses will re-instill trust in a technical and vocational education and training system. The sector badly let down the Australian public when the VET FEE HELP loans scandals got out of hand and did much to undermine TAFE and the wider VET system.</p>
<p>As Professor Leesa Wheeahan, from the University of Toronto, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-22/tafe-at-tipping-point/9071838">has eloquently argued</a> :</p>
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<p>we’ve got to move back from the disastrous policies of the last 10 years and start reinvesting in TAFE as the key anchor institutions of communities and regions.</p>
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<p>The opportunities that will be afforded through free TAFE will build the basis for a more equitable Victoria. Those who are sufficiently prepared will now be able to access education options that will have personal and economic benefits. </p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-from-victorias-tafe-mistakes-34646">Learning from Victoria's TAFE mistakes</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>The policy misadventures that saw TAFE emaciated, and the community lose faith in the vocational education and training sector, caused considerable individual and social damage.</p>
<p>The Andrews labor government was elected on platform to <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/under-labor-tafe-has-a-future-and-students-have-a-choice/">rescue TAFE</a>. The progress has been slow, and it would be premature to say this has been fully achieved. But this reinvestment in TAFE in Victoria resets the course of TAFE as a key public education institution for the community, industry and individuals. This represents long awaited signs for cautious optimism about TAFE’s future in Victoria. </p>
<p>Other states and territories could follow suit and similarly reinvest in their TAFE systems through a comparable policy initiative.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96102/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Pardy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>30 skill priority areas will be free from the beginning of 2019 in Victoria. Students will feel the most benefit, while private providers say the policy is not equitable.John Pardy, Education Lecturer and Researcher, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/377882015-02-23T19:31:12Z2015-02-23T19:31:12ZPrivatisation of vocational education isn’t working<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72591/original/image-20150220-29157-1t2p0ov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Private training organisations have been mired in controversy over sub-standard courses and unscrupulous methods to attract students. Here's how they're failing the system. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent weeks have produced various horror stories of the workings of dodgy private providers of vocational education and training, including the latest: a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/certificate-recall-exposes-training/story-fn59nlz9-1227224698663">recall of certificates</a> due to sub-par standards in these institutions.</p>
<p>Vocational training is crucial for both young Australians and the future of our economy, yet in recent years private providers who face little oversight or scrutiny have turned the sector upside down.</p>
<h2>The problems with private providers</h2>
<p>Private providers are amassing <a href="http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Publications/2015/WRCAEU2015.pdf">huge profits at taxpayers’ expense</a>, the quality of the system is declining and students may face large debts for courses they either didn’t complete or were not of a high standard.</p>
<p>Unscrupulous practices by some private providers include: </p>
<ul>
<li>aggressive marketing with a common “buy now, pay later, plus free iPad” hook</li>
<li>subcontracting out course content, teaching and assessment to other providers, including unregistered providers</li>
<li>up-selling students into courses they hadn’t intended to enrol in</li>
<li>delivering courses in fewer hours and online</li>
<li>significant merger and acquisition activity, with large enterprises owning portfolios of registered and unregistered training brands, which are out of the regulator’s line of sight.</li>
</ul>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72563/original/image-20150220-28184-1ha4q9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72563/original/image-20150220-28184-1ha4q9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72563/original/image-20150220-28184-1ha4q9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72563/original/image-20150220-28184-1ha4q9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72563/original/image-20150220-28184-1ha4q9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72563/original/image-20150220-28184-1ha4q9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72563/original/image-20150220-28184-1ha4q9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Online marketing material from an unregistered student recruitment site.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Direct online marketing email</span></span>
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<p>These practices were brought sharply to light by a <a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20131127/pdf/42l5yssz7qd6m0.pdf">government review of Vocation</a>, a large provider which had over 24,000 new course enrolments in 2013. At the time of the review, Vocation’s government funding was forecast to grow to <a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20140821/pdf/42rm9txlf9snnd.pdf">A$1.2 billion by 2017</a>.</p>
<p>The review resulted in the forfeiture of A$19.6 million after identifying unscrupulous practices. These included an over-reliance on third-party student referrals, enrolling students in courses inappropriate to their needs and delivering a <a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20141027/pdf/42t6xy4z448zr2.pdf">low-quality training experience</a>. After <a href="http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20140918/pdf/42s99hspcg0sdg.pdf">initially declaring to investors</a> that the review would be immaterial to earnings, the company has been forced into multiple trading halts on its free-falling shares to ensure adequate transparency over its operations. </p>
<p><a href="http://archive.coag.gov.au/coag_meeting_outcomes/2012-04-13/docs/NPA_Skills_Reform.pdf">Privatisation was supposed to</a> improve the range and quality of training offerings, make the sector more responsive to the needs of industry, and to provide greater transparency. None of these promises has been met. The lack of transparency seen with Vocation is far worse for unlisted providers and for unregistered providers party to subcontracting arrangements.</p>
<p>All of this has contributed to a loss of public trust in the vocational training system and huge damage to the long-term sustainability of TAFEs. </p>
<p>The annual report of the <a href="http://www.industry.gov.au/skills/RegulationofVET/Documents/ASQAProcessReview-FinalReport.pdf">Australian Skills Quality Authority</a> last year found that 75% of Registered Training Organisations failed to meet minimum standards on a first inspection.</p>
<h2>Private providers are strangling TAFE</h2>
<p>TAFEs have historically been the main provider of training, especially in regional Australia. They offer a range of career-focused courses for students not going to university.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72594/original/image-20150220-29178-1tbiv5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72594/original/image-20150220-29178-1tbiv5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72594/original/image-20150220-29178-1tbiv5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72594/original/image-20150220-29178-1tbiv5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72594/original/image-20150220-29178-1tbiv5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72594/original/image-20150220-29178-1tbiv5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72594/original/image-20150220-29178-1tbiv5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72594/original/image-20150220-29178-1tbiv5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">TAFE enrolments are suffering from the influx of private providers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-181407926/stock-photo-empty-classroom.html?src=lb-33231931&ws=0">Empty classroom image from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In recent years the states, headed by Victoria, <a href="https://theconversation.com/learning-from-victorias-tafe-mistakes-34646">opened up government funding</a> to all training providers, public and private, who vie for it. This has meant public TAFEs have had to compete for the funding previously allocated to them.</p>
<p>This has led to a proliferation of private providers – now over 3000 – hoping to get a share of this lucrative taxpayer-funded training.</p>
<p>Unlike universities, there are no caps on what private providers can charge students for courses through the VET FEE-HELP scheme, under which students incur a debt similar to the HECS debt for a university course.</p>
<p>We have seen huge profits accruing to private providers, which are far in excess of what a company in a genuinely competitive market could reasonably expect. <a href="http://www.aeufederal.org.au/Publications/2015/WRCAEU2015.pdf">For example, Australian Careers Network</a>, another large private provider, recorded a 51% profit margin in 2014, while several other providers recorded profit margins of over 30%.</p>
<p>In Victoria, TAFEs now have just 27% of enrolments. Other states are also seeing TAFE’s share of funding drop. TAFEs still provide the majority of training to disadvantaged students and those in regional areas, as well as many courses in traditional skill shortage areas, which do not deliver as big a profit margin to private providers.</p>
<h2>So how can we fix this?</h2>
<p>The standard answer is better regulation, but there are huge doubts as to whether this could work. This is not just because of the huge number of private providers, whose business models are so complex that regulators will always struggle to keep up.</p>
<p>Education is what economists call an “experience good” – meaning it’s impossible to judge the value of a course of study until you’ve completed it and tried to use it to get a job or undertake further study. That’s why, in a fast-changing marketplace fuelled by taxpayer subsidies, trying to regulate by giving more information to students will not work.</p>
<p>The VET FEE-HELP scheme means that courses are “buy now, pay later”, which makes it easier for unscrupulous operators to sell students courses that are low-value or useless. For young students who are eager to find work, it is easy to take at face value the promises made by private training organisations and realise too late that they have made a mistake.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72593/original/image-20150220-29157-quzr02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72593/original/image-20150220-29157-quzr02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72593/original/image-20150220-29157-quzr02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72593/original/image-20150220-29157-quzr02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72593/original/image-20150220-29157-quzr02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72593/original/image-20150220-29157-quzr02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72593/original/image-20150220-29157-quzr02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72593/original/image-20150220-29157-quzr02.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students have been left with large debts for incomplete or low-quality courses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-213329812/stock-photo-female-student-in-carpentry-class-using-circular-saw.html?src=lb-33231931&ws=0">Vocational training image from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In order to reverse this trend there must be a minimum hours requirement to stop year-long courses being completed in just a few weeks, providers should not be allowed to sub-contract training to unregistered third parties, who are effectively out of reach of regulators, and more scrutiny is needed of how for-profit training organisations are marketing themselves to potential students.</p>
<p>We also need to recognise that the public sector, through TAFE, should remain at the heart of vocational training and that it needs support to remain a sustainable provider of high-quality, trusted vocational qualifications. Where private providers have lagged, <a href="http://www.ncver.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/c10b759f-e467-4cdb-b310-087f6aca827b/Early-impacts-of-the-VTG-2724.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=c10b759f-e467-4cdb-b310-087f6aca827b">TAFEs continue to service the needs</a> of students from disadvantaged backgrounds (including those in regional areas), and are more likely to offer higher-cost courses in skills-shortage areas. </p>
<p>TAFEs just can’t fairly compete with private providers who can choose to offer only profitable training courses and to educate only students of their choice - usually those who can pay high fees and from relative advantage. Some recognition of this public role of TAFEs needs to be built into the funding system.</p>
<p>A cap on the funding available to private operators would give TAFEs some certainty about their operations and ensure they remain the custodians of high-quality vocational training.</p>
<p>If a more sustainable funding model for TAFE is not found, then it is very likely that public confidence in the entire system of vocational qualifications will be fatally eroded, robbing future generations of a chance to improve their skills and find quality jobs.</p>
<p>We need to recognise that the rhetoric of privatisation has not matched reality, and work out how to shift to a system that reliably delivers what students expect – a high-quality course at a fair price.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37788/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Serena Yu has consulted to a range of government and non-government organisations. She has received funding from the Australian Education Union.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Damian Oliver has conducted commissioned research for a range of government and non-government bodies. He received funding from the Australian Education Union to conduct this research.
He is a member of the National Tertiary Education Union and the Australian Labor Party.</span></em></p>Recent weeks have seen various horror stories of the workings of dodgy private providers of vocational education and training, including the latest: a recall of certificates due to concerns of sub-par standards in these institutions.Serena Yu, Senior Research Analyst, University of SydneyDamian Oliver, Leading Research Analyst, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/346462014-12-07T19:13:55Z2014-12-07T19:13:55ZLearning from Victoria’s TAFE mistakes<p>In the 40 years since its inception, rarely has TAFE featured as a central platform on which political parties win or lose votes. As such it seldom rates mentions in political campaigns as a distinct sector of education, unlike schools or universities.</p>
<p>But in the recent Victorian state election, cuts to TAFE funding were central to Labor’s campaign. Former Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger in his election night preview highlighted TAFE as one of the key issues that he felt might count against the Coalition government.</p>
<p>In the election aftermath, federal National Party member for Gippsland Darren Chester nominated TAFE funding as a key state issue which <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/victorias-vote-a-clear-message-to-tony-abbott-20141130-11wzcm.html">affected the election outcome</a>. </p>
<h2>How TAFE became a major political issue in Victoria</h2>
<p>That TAFE became a political negative for the Coalition government in Victoria is a paradox, as expenditure on skills training <a href="http://www.vu.edu.au/sites/default/files/mitchell-institute/pdfs/Peter-Noonan-TDA-speech-2Sep2014.pdf">more than doubled during its term in office</a>.</p>
<p>Despite this huge funding increase in 2013, <a href="http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/publications/20140806-TAFE-Audits/20140806-TAFE-Audits.html">five TAFE institutes in Victoria were rated</a> as having a high financial sustainability risk and eight as medium risk with an accumulated deficit across the 14 institutes of more than A$16 million. This is despite widespread staff cuts, course cancellations and campus closures which had significant local impacts and consequential political fallout for the government.</p>
<p>However, reasons for the parlous position of TAFE in Victoria extend back before the Coalition government. In 2008, the Brumby Labor government announced the introduction of the <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/training/providers/rto/securjobsfuture.pdf">Victorian Training Guarantee</a>. Under the Victorian Training Guarantee eligible students were able to choose their course from any VET provider, increasing TAFE’s competition. A similar policy is now being implemented in all states and territories.</p>
<h2>TAFEs have a public role to uphold</h2>
<p>TAFE’s “public roles” can include maintaining a wide range of courses even when there is low demand, maintaining campuses across Victoria and opening new campuses in areas of high population growth, enrolling students from diverse education and socio-economic backgrounds, providing specialist training in niche industry areas, providing counselling and library services, student facilities and meeting specific policy objectives of government, for example retraining workers in manufacturing industries.</p>
<p>While other providers can provide some or many of these roles they can opt in or out of them as they see fit. Most private providers also operate a very low cost delivery model with far less infrastructure and fewer services than TAFE. </p>
<p>Under the initial reform package introduced by the Brumby government, TAFE institutions were paid an additional rate per student relative to other providers and were allocated special funding for their role as public providers. This funding helped to cushion TAFE from the full impact of the new competition.</p>
<p>However, there was a strong view from economic agencies that there should be a level playing field in the VET market, and TAFE should just be seen as any other provider to be funded the same as other registered training organisations regardless of its obligations as a public provider.</p>
<p>This view fully prevailed in late 2011 when to help manage a cost blow out in the Victorian Training Guarantee, TAFE institutes with revenue of more than $100 million had their supplementary funding cut by the Coalition government. These cuts were then extended to all TAFE institutes in 2012. This resulted in funding cuts of more than A$300 million with widespread job losses, course cuts and campus and facility closures.</p>
<p>Subsidy levels for a range of VET courses assessed as low priority were also cut in 2012. Although these reductions applied to all providers, the impact on TAFE was felt more strongly than private providers due to its high fixed cost base in terms of campuses, facilities and ongoing staffing in areas such as hospitality.</p>
<p>Even though TAFE enrolments increased under the Victorian Training Guarantee, revenue from enrolments fell well short of the additional funding previously allocated for TAFE’s “public role”.</p>
<h2>Learning from Victoria</h2>
<p>The factors leading to the financial crisis in TAFE are complex and varied. They flow from the removal of funding for TAFE’s public role and changes in course funding levels but also the inability of many institutes and the TAFE system generally to capitalise on the significant growth opportunities provided by the Victorian Training Guarantee. </p>
<p>Other states have taken a more cautious approach in introducing competitive and student demand driven funding in VET and will have watched with interest the political fallout from Victoria. Most have initiated major reforms to TAFE in advance of the introduction of contestable funding and have far more explicitly recognised the importance of a strong TAFE system.</p>
<p>The lessons are clear. Governments should value and be clear about the role of TAFE as the public VET provider and be prepared to fund those roles. But TAFE’s future role should be as a high quality and highly responsive provider in emerging national and international VET and tertiary education markets, not as a government funded monopoly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Noonan is Professorial Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy at Victoria University and Professor of Tertiary Education Policy at the University. The University receives VET funding from the Victorian Government.
He also undertook research and consultancy projects associated with the development and implementation of the Victorian Training Guarantee.</span></em></p>In the 40 years since its inception, rarely has TAFE featured as a central platform on which political parties win or lose votes. As such it seldom rates mentions in political campaigns as a distinct sector…Peter Noonan, Mitchell Professorial Fellow, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/321362014-10-02T20:12:21Z2014-10-02T20:12:21ZNot all vocational training providers are stacking up<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60393/original/fxkv2nxt-1412059775.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Complaints of dodgy providers of vocational education and training in aged care and child care show something has to be done to regulate private providers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=178358603&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxMjA4ODU0NiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTc4MzU4NjAzIiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDE3ODM1ODYwMyIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xNzgzNTg2MDMvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJwRDZlbWRaNGZaV0lyRmtXNkV6dWZuZ1FwdzQiXQ%2Fshutterstock_178358603.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=fh8--bAmJcBTpWM3vnZvEQ-1-69">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Vocational education and training is crucial to developing the skills of the workforce, but the quality of training and development is under question, and it is a problem – a major problem.</p>
<p>Public TAFE colleges Australia-wide have continued to experience funding cuts and private registered training organisations are poised to get a boost in funding to train Australia’s workforce.</p>
<h2>The labour market needs skilled workers</h2>
<p>Australia faces a future with a population of retirees who outnumber workers. In 2010 each Australian aged 65 or older was supported by five people of working age. By 2050 <a href="http://archive.treasury.gov.au/igr/igr2010/report/pdf/IGR_2010.pdf">this ratio is forecast</a> to decline to a mere 2.7 workers participating in the labour market to each retired worker.</p>
<p>The vocational training sector, including TAFE, needs to be boosted and highly regulated to ensure quality training so the workforce is well trained and active. However, we are faced with short-sighted government funding cuts and poor training, which industry is rightly questioning. </p>
<p>The Business Council of Australia <a href="http://www.afr.com/p/national/education/westacott_plea_for_vocational_training_7KPjQKIxIAOqIM2MbVvpKN">has accused the government</a> of removing funding from vocational training and TAFE because it is a “palatable” option compared to taking money out of schools. </p>
<h2>Reports of dodgy providers and sub-par training</h2>
<p>According to a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-10/childcare-centres-blacklist-organisations-over-poor-training/5732270">recent news report</a>, childcare centres have been blacklisting accredited training organisations they perceive to be “dodgy”. Evidence emerged that graduates from these “dodgy” providers were being turned away from childcare centres due to their presence on informal “blacklists”.</p>
<p>Private registered training organisations offer Certificate III/IV and diploma qualifications in childcare as the government has decreed that these qualifications are essential to work in the industry. But childcare managers reported that many registered training organisations use the well-known “tick and flick” method to make fast money without developing an effective training program. </p>
<p>The student may have paid thousands of dollars to buy a qualification from an organisation but the industry operators know that this provider was unethical. That leaves applicants for jobs in childcare high and dry.</p>
<p>Other yet-to-be-published research I have been involved in within aged care and transport and logistics has found the same concerns. As part of my research into staffing in aged care, a manager in a regional care facility told me there were numerous private training organisations that he would not use - in particular, one that provides a Certificate III qualification in personal care after a total of just 13 hours of training.</p>
<p>The 2011 Productivity Commission report, <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/aged-care">Caring for Older Australians</a>, reported extensive concerns that effective training is crucial to “the creation of a sustainable aged care workforce” and adequate end-of-life care services “can only be provided in residential and community aged care settings if staff are adequately trained and resourced”.</p>
<p>Based on the research I have conducted, there has been no notable change since then. This seems to question the importance of caring for Australia’s old and young citizens.</p>
<p>Concerns are consistently expressed over the quality of training in numerous fields. Having interviewed many CEOs and directors of nursing in the aged care field, again and again they expressed concern at poor training and allowing poorly trained people with inadequate skills to be employed to work with older Australians, many of whom suffer from dementia.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.asqa.gov.au/verve/_resources/Strategic_Reviews_2013_Marketing_and_Advertising_Report.pdf">research</a> in this field <a href="http://www.vetreform.industry.gov.au/files/Proposed%20Standards%20for%20training%20providers%20and%20VET%20regulators%20June%202014.pdf">consistently reports</a> that despite accredited training courses, there is wide variance in the quality of training provided by registered training organisations. </p>
<h2>So how do we improve the quality of training?</h2>
<p>First, improved regulation of registered training organisations is essential. It is bad enough to have reports of poor training in child and aged care, but if poor training extends to electricians, plumbers, builders and air-conditioning and refrigeration mechanics then we have an even bigger problem. </p>
<p>Second, there needs to be some research to support the ideological view that prevails in government that privatisation cures all. I have scoured the vast resources of academic commentary and I am yet to encounter compelling research that clearly identities the benefits of this march to privatisation.</p>
<p>Australia is in the midst of a massive demographic shift with dramatic repercussions for public policy. This includes a need to train and develop and retrain and redevelop Australia’s workforce.</p>
<p>Many training courses delivered by private providers may well be of a high quality, but too many are reported as not delivering accredited courses to the quality standard industry needs. There is an essential requirement to review the content and delivery of vocational education and training programs. </p>
<p>There is also a strong need to rescue TAFE colleges - they remain the place where people can be given a second or third chance to engage with the labour market.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Montague does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Vocational education and training is crucial to developing the skills of the workforce, but the quality of training and development is under question, and it is a problem – a major problem. Public TAFE…Alan Montague, Lecturer, management, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/313702014-09-18T04:44:21Z2014-09-18T04:44:21ZRenewing federalism: our tertiary education system needs a rethink<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58848/original/xkvtmmf2-1410497409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Funding of vocational education is suffering given neither the state nor Federal government has sole responsibility.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=150587615&size=huge&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxMDUyNjEzOCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTUwNTg3NjE1IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDE1MDU4NzYxNSIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xNTA1ODc2MTUvaHVnZS5qcGciLCJtIjoiMSIsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwiT1p2aHA5UHI5NU1ZeFpyMW9rMGpnc2dFNUI4Il0%2Fshutterstock_150587615.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=jgXb_TEZzdUmTTFA_aaYMQ-1-1">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The reform of Australia’s federation is under review. In this special series, we ask leading Australian academics to begin a debate on renewing federalism, from tax reform to the broader issues of democracy.</em></p>
<p><em>Victoria University’s Peter Noonan examines the effect of the funding relationship between the state and Commonwealth on tertiary education.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>A major imbalance exists in Australia’s tertiary education system. Left unaddressed it will lead to growing disparities in funding between higher education and vocational education and training, distort student choices and create an imbalance in skills in the Australian labour market. </p>
<p>An effective tertiary education system would comprise a range of high quality courses and providers operating across the vocational education and training (VET) and higher education sectors under an equitable funding system.</p>
<h2>What would an effective funding system look like?</h2>
<p>An effective tertiary education funding system should have three main features:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Public subsidies that balance public and private benefits, course costs and the circumstances of individual students</p></li>
<li><p>Private contributions supported by income contingent student loans that ensure that students only pay when they start to get personal benefits</p></li>
<li><p>Student income support targeted to the needs and circumstances of individual students.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>There is already great diversity of courses and providers across the Australian tertiary education system with growing and better connections between the sectors. The Commonwealth also operates a consistent and comprehensive student income support system for tertiary education students. </p>
<p>But the potential of this system is undermined by growing divergence in how, and at what levels, VET and higher education are funded, and how, and at what level, the states fund their VET systems.</p>
<h2>The nature of the problem lies in the Federal/state divide</h2>
<p>This divergence in funding levels and models occurs because of the way higher education and VET are funded by the Commonwealth and the states.</p>
<p>The Commonwealth has full responsibility for funding higher education providers. It funds them through public subsidies supplemented by student fees. These fees are paid to providers either directly by students, or by the Commonwealth on their behalf through an income contingent loan. Student fees are regulated by the Commonwealth, but this could change if the government’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-to-now-for-the-higher-education-bill-31017">Higher Education Bill passes</a>.</p>
<p>The states have full responsibility for funding VET providers. VET student fees are regulated in some states and deregulated in others. However only VET students in Diploma, Advanced Diploma and a few Certificate IV courses have access to the Commonwealth’s income contingent loans schemes. Other students have to pay their fees upfront. </p>
<p>The major flaw in the funding system is that VET funding is a shared responsibility between the Commonwealth and state governments. The Commonwealth contributes to VET provider funding through agreements with each state and territory. These agreements were designed to provide a sustainable base for VET funding and VET enrolments but which have now broken down.</p>
<p>Most states don’t have the capacity or the will to make VET funding a priority. Victoria is the notable exception. VET fees are increasing but most VET students can’t access income contingent loans. They also generally have less capacity to pay than higher education students given a larger proportion of VET students are from <a href="http://avetra.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/48.00-Leesa-Wheelahan.pdf">low socio-economic backgrounds</a>. </p>
<p>As a consequence public investment in VET <a href="http://www.vu.edu.au/sites/default/files/mitchell-institute/pdfs/Peter-Noonan-TDA-speech-2Sep2014.pdf">has plateaued since 2011</a> and the future VET funding outlook is even bleaker. The Commonwealth has reduced its funding for the VET agreements with <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2014-15/content/bp3/html/bp3_03_part_2a.htm">the states from 2017-18</a>.</p>
<h2>The funding gap in tertiary education will widen</h2>
<p>The major gap between investment in higher education and VET - which has always existed - has widened significantly in recent years as the following graph shows. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58965/original/r6mk499g-1410742363.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58965/original/r6mk499g-1410742363.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58965/original/r6mk499g-1410742363.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58965/original/r6mk499g-1410742363.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58965/original/r6mk499g-1410742363.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58965/original/r6mk499g-1410742363.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58965/original/r6mk499g-1410742363.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/58965/original/r6mk499g-1410742363.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unsurprisingly VET enrolments decreased by <a href="http://www.ncver.edu.au/wps/portal/vetdataportal/restricted/dataContent/!ut/p/a1/pVPbTuMwFPyaPlo-cS5OHksDOBXhkoBo8lI5tlNStWmonQrx9Til0mqFCF3Wb5bmjGfGc3CJF7hs-aFZcdPsWr4Z7mWwTBwyY8yD-R1jAST06jHL2ZMLjOJnXOJStKYzL7hoxUHtl_qF75WcgOSGT0CbXqrWaMRbicSu32ulEQHHRbzXZs83DR8oOr5SUulm1R5vopG48F3qRSQIUeBUEfKICyiSoBCvK08KV_gyoAO61ypWNe835lG9GVzAUdOuNfbdJM5-QxQrLQaiBS6sf_jmTGE0Hic4zd-z64BcWEDIUoDkNs-u0svchZD-3zwE582PAM75XguZXU-ZR2-sZy8kkMQXLKbRoIWeAGMRHQFjGYwCrMnCuqDfy_Rx_qc0kVuHNa8FCkPpIk8oB3EiQwSccDfyiag9wPMzcmvWr6_l9FQkW6vF3-3u-mrTiOOe6AkQalnHZd57nzKfZ-ny4ekys-ivxS2-VrD4TZP_YYHmP3Xg5yzO3_Ruuw3XqnpXlZ9lWZ0na787vN_Ut-mUbZep_gBWgen3/dl5/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/?useDefaultText=0&contentIDR=53749268-61b9-4230-9d0e-afb4dc3c5d67&useDefaultDesc=0#">3.4% between 2012 and 2013</a>.</p>
<p>While the balance between public and private funding for higher education will change with budget cuts and fee deregulation, the growth trajectory in higher education funding will increase even if universities set fees at minimum levels required to offset budget cuts. </p>
<p>As a consequence the gap between investment in VET and higher education is likely to widen potentially leading to distortions in enrolments in the sectors, with declining quality and outcomes in VET. </p>
<p>VET is a prime candidate for reform in the federation, and reform has been attempted in the past. In 1992 the Commonwealth offered to assume full responsibility for VET funding from the states. The now dysfunctional shared funding model emerged as a compromise.</p>
<p>Various reviews since then have proposed that either the Commonwealth or the states should take full responsibility for VET funding based on the principle that a single level of government should have responsibility and accountability for specific areas of service delivery.</p>
<h2>What are the alternatives?</h2>
<p>A full reallocation of responsibility for VET from one level of government to the other is unlikely.</p>
<p>Perhaps its time for a different approach, based around tertiary education entitlement. The Commonwealth could extend the established higher education model of consistent public subsidies, student contributions and income contingent loans into VET by negotiating an agreed per student subsidy level with the states, leaving the states or institutions to set fee levels. </p>
<p>Alternatively the Commonwealth could negotiate a one-off transfer of VET funding from the states for agreed student cohorts (for example school leavers) and provide ongoing funding of an entitlement in both VET and higher education. The states could provide subsidies for student places in VET in areas of state priorities. </p>
<p>Different ways of thinking about the roles of the Commonwealth and the states in tertiary education are needed if we are to have a balanced and fair system across higher and vocational education. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Renewing Federalism is in partnership with the Australian National University’s Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Crawford School of Public Policy and with the University of Melbourne School of Government.</em></p>
<p><em>Our Renewing Federalism series will culminate in a symposium on October 2 at ANU. If you would like to attend the event, please see event details and <a href="https://taxpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au/events/4661/renewing-australian-federalism-starting-conversation">RSVP here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Read more in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/renewing-federalism">here.</a></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Noonan is Professorial Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy at Victoria University and Professor of Tertiary Education Policy at the University. The University receives VET funding from the Victorian Government. </span></em></p>The reform of Australia’s federation is under review. In this special series, we ask leading Australian academics to begin a debate on renewing federalism, from tax reform to the broader issues of democracy…Peter Noonan, Mitchell Professorial Fellow, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/316202014-09-12T01:28:32Z2014-09-12T01:28:32ZReforms to VET are a good thing, but nowhere near enough<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58819/original/kk2vbdbp-1410481756.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Changes to the regulation of Vocational Education and Training are good, but they ignore the real problem, that the sector is chronically underfunded.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=207780916&size=huge&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQxMDUxMDUwMCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMjA3NzgwOTE2IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDIwNzc4MDkxNiIsImsiOiJwaG90by8yMDc3ODA5MTYvaHVnZS5qcGciLCJtIjoiMSIsImQiOiJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEifSwicnF3amxDdjR1azRVUW9leGF1bDFMRE45TXk4Il0%2Fshutterstock_207780916.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=sLCwnA8wUekpgMRBtnqozw-1-62">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After announcing a <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/macfarlane/media-releases/lifting-apprenticeship-completion-rates-better-support">slew</a> of <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/macfarlane/media-releases/jobs-and-new-careers-young-australians-grow-businesses">changes</a> to vocational education and training (VET) earlier in the week, Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane made further changes yesterday to the <a href="http://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/macfarlane/media-releases/governments-second-tranche-vet-reforms-deliver-industry-led-and">regulation of the sector</a>. While this is a positive step in the direction of reforming what some see as an ailing VET sector, the real problem is chronic underfunding. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.vetreform.industry.gov.au/">second tranche of reforms</a> announced yesterday are part of the government’s attempt to fix what the minister <a href="http://www.ianmacfarlanemp.com/media-releases/lifting-apprenticeship-completion-rates-with-better-support-for-apprentices-and-small-businesses">describes as a</a> fractured, unwieldy and overly bureaucratic system. Well, that message is nothing new, but an important question is will the reform process this time be comprehensive enough, and will there be the drive to see it though?</p>
<h2>The good news, bad news and some ‘please explains’</h2>
<p>The good news first. Giving high-quality apprenticeships and other vocational qualifications the esteem they deserve is a very worthy initiative. Seeing them as equivalent but different to a university degree is an important move towards creating a greater parity of esteem. </p>
<p>But this means we have to ensure that the VET brand is sound and highly regarded. Cracking down on unscrupulous brokers who are slipping through the regulatory net is a very positive step. Stopping rogue provision is another and that is the job of the national regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (<a href="http://www.asqa.gov.au/">ASQA</a>). </p>
<p>This should not come at the cost of overburdening those providers that are doing the right thing by providing a quality learning experience relevant to the needs of their students and local employers. The move to allow the best providers to have delegated regulatory responsibility is another of the real positives the minister announced. This will enable these providers to concentrate on quality provision rather than compliance.</p>
<p>Where might the jury still be out? I would suggest in at least four areas: first, the move to open up the development of <a href="http://www.serviceskills.com.au/about-training-packages">Training Packages</a> - the national standards for skills in a specific industry - to greater contestability. The quality and flexibility of Training Packages has been always been a contentious issue as <a href="http://www.isc.org.au/">Industry Skills Councils</a>, who decide what the requisite skills in a given industry are, have sought, with varying success, to balance competing interests. At the coalface, providers find themselves criticised for not delivering what local employers want, yet they can risk being non-compliant if they are not seen to be faithfully following the Training Package.</p>
<p>The second uncertainty is the replacement for the National Skills Standards Council, which has been foreshadowed by the minister but whose membership is yet to be announced. This will need to provide a strong quality assurance function if we move to what might well be a more devolved and varied set of standards bodies like that in the early ‘90s. If this is to be the case, we will need to avoid the turf wars and competition that characterised this period. </p>
<p>Such a body will be vital to oversee and ensure the integrity of all VET sector qualifications. In the past, models based on representation (the National Quality Council) and expertise (the National Skills Standards Council) have been tried. What will be the model this time?</p>
<p>Next, the minister has announced yet another review of Training Packages. This will be the third in my living memory: the first was under the Australian National Training Authority, which was closed down before the recommendations were implemented. I was more intimately involved with the second, conducted under a joint National Quality Council and Council of Australian Governments (COAG) steering committee. </p>
<p>That was not, I can tell you, an easy process. The inherent conservatism of VET’s stakeholder groups meant that the reforms proposed then probably did not go far enough. In fact, what was proposed was unwound to some extent on implementation.</p>
<p>So I wish this new Training Package reform process a lot of luck. It will need it. </p>
<p>One of the minister’s interesting proposals is more “skill sets” training. This is worth a look, particularly for upskilling or more broadly skilling existing workers. Will training in “skills sets” attract government funding as part of a more flexible approach, however?</p>
<p>The final area where the jury is still out is the quality and usability of the standards for training providers to be introduced early next year. It is vital that ASQA and providers have standards they can both work with. One fear is that the latest version will make the regulator’s job harder, not easier. Another is that they will not be sufficiently precise so that providers can clearly understand what is expected of them.</p>
<h2>All of this misses the point, VET is chronically underfunded</h2>
<p>It may be that all of this talk of reform is missing a couple of important points. First, VET is continually expected to do more with less. <a href="http://www.lhmartininstitute.edu.au/userfiles/files/Peter%20Noonan_TDA%20speech_2Sep2014.pdf">A recent paper</a> by VET researcher Peter Noonan points out:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While investment in schools and universities in Australia has risen significantly in recent years, there has been a much lower rate of growth in VET, with an even bleaker funding outlook in years to come. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This needs to be redressed. The other area of real concern is that while all this reform is being proposed, little, if anything, is being done to ensure that VET teachers and trainers have the skills, support and ongoing professional development they need to do their highly important work effectively. </p>
<p>You can regulate and change all you like, but it is the teachers and trainers on the ground who will make the real difference. They need the resources to be able to do this.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31620/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hugh Guthrie receives funding from a range of bodies to conduct VET related research</span></em></p>After announcing a slew of changes to vocational education and training (VET) earlier in the week, Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane made further changes yesterday to the regulation of the sector. While…Hugh Guthrie, Principal Research Fellow, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/303162014-08-18T05:07:17Z2014-08-18T05:07:17ZTAFE in crisis? No, but the future is changing for vocational education<p>Since their inception in 1974, Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions have been the major providers of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia. This may not be the case in the future. </p>
<p>Non-TAFE providers have been increasing their market share of public VET funding. Between 2008 and 2012, payments to these providers increased by A$950 million, <a href="http://www.ncver.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/89ec6f17-337f-4a97-be52-682c90efb50e/2012-financial-information-2664.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=89ec6f17-337f-4a97-be52-682c90efb50e">an increase of more than 200%</a>. </p>
<p>The concept of a training market has long been a policy objective of Australian governments. They began to contract the delivery of training from a range of public, private and industry providers more than 20 years ago. By 1999, government funding for apprenticeships and traineeships was opened up to approved providers in most states. However, until recently TAFE still received the bulk of its public funding through annual agreements with state government VET departments.</p>
<h2>TAFE is losing its market share</h2>
<p>VET funding is now becoming far more competitive. Under a “student entitlement” model, eligible students select their provider of choice. This links VET revenue directly to student preferences and enrolments. In most states all providers will compete for students from the same pool of money.</p>
<p>Victoria and South Australia have already implemented this model with significant consequences for TAFE. Since 2008 in Victoria TAFE market share of government funded student load has fallen from almost 70% to 45% and in South Australia, it fell from <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/tafe-forced-into-higher-ed-markets/story-e6frgcjx-1226978202815?nk=f0a8b511e8a71414b9d474f4c3dd7f19">71% in 2011 to 51% in 2012</a>. </p>
<p>TAFE’s loss of market share in Victoria was exacerbated in 2012 when specific funding to cover the costs of TAFE’s role as a public provider was cut. The cumulative effect of the funding changes has seen a deterioration in the overall financial position of TAFE in that state. Five institutes are rated <a href="http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/publications/20140806-TAFE-Audits/20140806-TAFE-Audits.html">by the Victorian Auditor General</a> as having a high financial sustainability risk and eight as medium risk – although four institutes also recorded a surplus.</p>
<p>Loss of market share should not be confused with lower enrolments. In both states – particularly Victoria – TAFE enrolments actually grew as the system expanded but <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/tafe-forced-into-higher-ed-markets/story-e6frgcjx-1226978202815?nk=f0a8b511e8a71414b9d474f4c3dd7f19">at a far lower rate than private providers</a>. </p>
<p>The other states are now implementing the entitlement system but without funding growth. They are restricting funding to specific courses, many in areas of existing TAFE provision. If the Victorian and South Australian experience is repeated, TAFE will also lose market share in those states but without the advantages of a growing VET system.</p>
<h2>Why has TAFE lost market share?</h2>
<p>Given the expanding system, why has TAFE lost market share? What does this mean for the future of TAFE?</p>
<p>We often hear that TAFE has lost market share because of “dodgy” private providers who run cheap quick courses with low standards, or because TAFE is an inflexible high cost provider ill-suited to a competitive environment. </p>
<p>In fact the possible reasons for the loss of TAFE market share are complex and varied. Some of these reasons are that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>in any new market existing long-standing providers often lose market share to new providers who are able to pick and choose what areas of the market they wish to enter and design their business models around the new rather than the old system;</p></li>
<li><p>in Victoria at least, many institutes were slow to plan for the new system. In particular, they were slow to adjust their marketing and offerings to new markets created under the entitlement model;</p></li>
<li><p>private providers have more flexible and lower-cost delivery models – many with minimal infrastructure and facilities, and high levels of casual and contract staff. Most TAFEs operate as “full service” providers seeking to maintain broad subject areas and a more intensive delivery and student support model. This is a particular problem when low cost providers opt to not charge student fees at all, placing TAFE at a price disadvantage; and</p></li>
<li><p>some providers have exploited significant weaknesses in the design of the entitlement model, leading to major blow-outs in enrolments in specific course areas.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>The future of TAFE</h2>
<p>It is essential that the reasons for the loss of TAFE market share are analysed and understood at the institutional level and by government as the owner. </p>
<p>Governments must be clearer about the role and purpose of TAFE as the public VET provider in a competitive system, recognising that a largely government-funded private training market alone will not provide the depth, breadth or ongoing capacity required to meet Australia’s workforce skills needs into the 21st century. Skills supply cannot be just turned off and on like a tap.</p>
<p>One thing is clear: student-driven and demand-based funding is here to stay in both the VET and higher education sectors. The future of TAFE is not to be found in a return to a public monopoly that has not existed for over 20 years, as some have proposed. Rather, the TAFE business and delivery model must be much more strongly attuned to the needs of the hundreds of thousands of potential students who are eligible for the VET student entitlement – even with its design faults.</p>
<p>TAFE’s future will also not be found in just seeking to re-build market share but as a distinctive, high quality and flexible provider with a relentless commitment to student and industry engagement competitive in all of the markets in which it operates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Noonan works at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy - an independent institute at Victoria University. Victoria University is a VET provider. Peter Noonan was involved in the early design and has advised on student entitlement systems for stage governments. He has undertaken research and consultancy projects for public and private VET providers and governments. He also provides advice on tertiary education policy issues to senior management at Victoria University. </span></em></p>Since their inception in 1974, Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions have been the major providers of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia. This may not be the case in the…Peter Noonan, Professorial Fellow, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.