For years, we’ve heard Australia’s spending on tertiary education is some of the lowest in the OECD. This is only true if you ignore GDP growth. Real spending was actually going up, until 2016.
The VET sector is struggling to keep up with the rapid changes in industry.
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In April 2019, the government-commissioned Joyce review made 71 recommendations to reform the VET sector. Here’s what the report said, and what the government is doing about it.
Many universities use tutorials to complement lectures.
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Jan Feld, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Nicolás Salamanca, The University of Melbourne, and Ulf Zoelitz, University of Zurich
As students return to campuses this week, new research shows universities could save money by not asking professors to teach tutorials because they are no more effective than student instructors.
If we don’t respect plumbing as an occupation, how will we respect the system that trains plumbers?
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Many young Australians and their parents don’t consider VET as a potential post-school pathway, even if it might be more suitable for them than university.
OECD data can be a cherry-picker’s picnic in local higher education funding debates.
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Australian tertiary education policy and funding debates are better served by domestic data.
In short, less advantaged students require significant additional supports, well beyond acknowledging their diverse pathways for entry into a degree program.
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From 2020, ANU will require students to meet co-curricular requirements alongside ATAR. This significant policy shift is meant to improve equity of access, but won’t change much.
Tanya Plibersek announced Labor’s plan to conduct a review of the tertiary education sector in March this year.
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Labor has promised to review the tertiary education sector if elected next year. There are some major issues, and some examples from abroad they should consider.
Employers’ changing demands for workers with higher education raises legitimate questions about how suitable current higher education is as preparation for employment.
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Practical ways forward for higher education policy reform include fixing the dysfunctional relationship between higher and vocational education or government-sponsored analysis of the future of work.
Africa’s massive variety of languages should be celebrated and used in tertiary education.
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Alternative scenarios for tertiary funding in South Africa are set out in a completely separate report from the Davis Tax Committee drawing from work done by the higher education department.
South Africa boasts world class universities. It must not allow their quality to drop.
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South Africa must act to halt the decline and save its universities’ well deserved global reputation of excellence.
New Zealand Prime Minister-designate Jacinda Ardern holds firm on her promise to block Australian students from tertiary education if reforms go through.
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New Zealand’s Prime Minister-designate Jacinda Ardern has vowed to take retaliatory action if the Turnbull government changes fee arrangements for New Zealanders studying in Australia.
Our higher education system was devised 30 years ago, so perhaps it’s time for change.
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Degree apprenticeships are being rolled out in the UK. They bridge the gap between technical skills, employment and higher education. Is there scope for something similar in Australia?
The fact that a university has a surplus doesn’t mean it has a profit to be either reinvested or returned to shareholders. Grants, for example, should be spent on the projects they’re intended for.
Kenyan medical and public health students provide healthcare to communities.
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Senior Research Fellow in Youth, Research & Policy Centre, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Honorary Fellow in Education Policy, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne