Michelle Grattan speaks with Simon Birmingham about his negotiations for a new higher education package, efforts to crack down on rorting in the vocational educational sector and the government's overhaul of the childcare system.
University isn’t the best option for everyone.
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In recent times, the front pages of our newspapers have provided an almost daily reminder that some Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers are to be avoided.
Maintaining community confidence in the value of VET qualifications is essential for a functioning labour market.
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Damian Oliver, University of Technology Sydney and Serena Yu, University of Technology Sydney
Lured by government subsidies, registered training organisations are enrolling people into VET courses that do not match their needs and for which there is a dubious case at best for taxpayer support.
A bust of Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid. Verwoerd believed that black people should know their place – and that included staying away from ‘white’ jobs.
Juda Ngwenya/Reuters
Vocational training is regarded as "low status" in South Africa. Much of the negativity around technical and vocational work seems to lie in the country's history.
Should the Federal government take over from the states in funding vocational education and training?
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Federal Minister for Education and Training Christopher Pyne has recently added his support to the proposal for the federal government to take over full responsibility for funding Vocational Education and Training.
Vocational training shouldn’t be dismissed as an easy, lazy alternative to completing formal schooling.
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Modern vocational programmes must prepare students for complex work which demands a skills and knowledge mix that is different but not necessarily easier than school subjects.
All 16-year-olds will now have to sit five academic subjects at GCSE.
David Davies / PA Archive
Critics of Ghana's education system suggest that making local cultural values a fundamental part of the education system will create a happier, more harmonious society.
Manchester Town Hall. Will education be part of greater devolution?
Dave Wood Liverpool Images
It’s 25 years since the abolition of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA). Its passing marked a turning point: local control over education in Britain has never been the same again. Now plans led…
Back to school for Nicky Morgan.
The Prime Minister's Office/flickr
From a College of Teaching to vocational education, international students and whether to raise tuition fees, there is a lot in the ministers' inboxes.
IBM has pioneered P-TECHs.
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Before the government tries a third time to secure support for university fee deregulation, it needs to learn from past mistakes in the tertiary education sector and come up with a plan.
What a young person decides to study should be based on an informed choice of what is best for them - not what will be subsidised the most.
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Under our proposal, governments would guarantee public support for eligible people between the ages of 18-24 years – not just to go to university, but also for vocational education and training.
A few anecdotes about dodgy Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers doesn’t mean that the whole system is broken.
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The Australian government is reviewing vocational education and training qualifications. The aim is to streamline a system that has educators, employers and government baffled by its complexity. The government…
Hurrah! But wait till you get to the office.
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The expansion of higher education in the UK has been driven by a political desire to increase economic growth and to promote social mobility at the same time by drawing more graduates from a larger pool…
It was worth coming back from holiday early.
Ben Birchall/PA Wire
Despite a number of dire warnings, overall GCSE results have not been very volatile. Across the country, the number of students getting A* to C grades has increased slightly, by 0.7% points. On the basis…
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