New Zealand
and
Australia
Vocational Education
and Training
Elizabeth Eppel
Starting Points 00Pre
1980
Pressure for Change
New Framework - 1990
Framework Elements
Senior
Secondary School
Policy
Debates
Implementation
Challenges
More recent
fine tuning
New Zealand Education System
2004 Proportion of population 25-64 with qualifications
Qualifications by Industry
New Zealand and Australia have taken
similar approaches to policy and development of the VET sector
.
Mostly I will talk about the New Zealand sector because it is one national system whereas there are slightly different systems in each Australian states
There isn00 enough time to go into the similarities and differences but for those interested my paper gives some information.
The reform of New Zealand00 education administration system in the 1990s took place on the back of wider, sweeping macro-economic reforms and some of the approaches New Zealand has adopted can be attributed to the pervasive influence of this wider economic reform.
When designing change we need to remember that education and training systems, labour markets and economies are not just interconnected but are each complex dynamic systems. Complex systems work in non linear ways and cannot be controlled by top down rules and rigid design, and from time to time will do unpredictable things
New Zealand in the 1980s had low levels of retention of 16-19 year olds in education and training compared with other OECD countries. Australia00 retention rates were a little better but still lower than the USA and some European countries. These young people were for the most part readily absorbed into the workforce.
Post school education was pursued by a minority. There was not a culture of training in industry and most of the systematic training that did go on happened in a few large, mainly government employers such as the post office, the public works departments, transport department and the armed forces.
Many young people did not complete the final two years of schooling and left at the minimum school leaving age of 15. During the 50s 60s and early seventies there was still employment for people with little or no qualifications.
This all began to change during the 80s.
Unemployment was rising and yet there were also skill shortages as new technologies and industries began to emerge
Governments in New Zealand and Australia
from this time began to take a more active interest in the performance
of the education and training systems and their ability to plan for
and meet increasing, and also rapidly evolving, demands for skills in
the work place. The narrowly based formal apprenticeship training systems
that had endured to the 80s, based on time served approaches, and each
with its own curriculum, qualification development, accreditation, approval
and assessment approaches, were not equipped to respond to the new demands
for skilled workers brought about by the economic and social changes
being experienced in both countries.
Economic crisis at the end of the 80s forced the pressure for change into high urgency.
Lots of reviews were commissioned about what needed to be done. They all confirmed a sense that the need for adjustment in the workforce, and the skills required, would be and ongoing thing.
Two important design feature of the new system were seamlessness and the facilitation of learning pathways.
The slogan Learning for Life was born. People would need to know how to learn and would probably need to regularly update their skills throughout their lives.
There was also a need to bring education and industry closer so that there was more dialogue and influence.
Making this level of change happen, and at some speed needed political champions who raised the profile of what was needed and the elements of the new system
New education administration agencies were formed,
New legislation recognised industry training bodies to help identify the training need of industry and develop relevant qualifications, and arrange the delivery of training.
The National Qualifications framework
became a means for unifying the approach to qualifications and ensuring
a focus on outcomes. The NZ Qualifications Authority was tasked with
assisting industry and others to develop qualifications especially in
areas where no formal training existed. They worked with ITOs or other
standard setting bodies.
The concept of the learner being able
to progress to a qualification in small units was art of the framework
as was the move away from the notion of a particular time to be spent
before recognition of learning could occur. This opened the way for
recognition of prior learning, workplace learning and workplace assessment.
Each step on the achievement ladder towards the qualification is recorded
on the learners record.
Quality assurance of providers was achieved
through processes of registration and accreditation. A system of standards
are set for providers and they cannot receive funding or award credit
unless they first meet these standards
The senior secondary school was part
of the overall planning for the skills strategy and VET changes from
the beginning.
Curriculum and qualification reform has
taken place in the last two decades. The school level qualification
enables students to start of tertiary qualifications while still at
school.
There is now a more deliberate focus
on the school to post school transition and helping students to make
the right choices and also lowering the cost of poor decisions through
credit transfer arrangements.
Students can start on a tertiary qualification
at school e.g. many schools teach part of the City and Guilds hospitality
qualifications or part of a carpentry qualification. There is
funding to enable school students to attend a tertiary institution part
time and also funding for students to be placed in a workplace where
they can also do formal learning.
All schools are required to assist their
students with careers education and career planning.
More intensive support is available for at risk teenagers to support their transition to work, study or some self supporting activity.
Academic pathways through the education
system were at the time of the reforms well charted, tested and held
in high esteem by employers and in the community. Vocational education
and training was seen by some as offering a lower level and less prestigious
path. The two pathways were in the main seen as 00ither0000r00
although the division between these was not as systemically entrenched
as in some European jurisdictions. The lesson from New Zealand would
be it is not either / but and/and. Achieving and/and means adopting
approaches that can reframe and deal with the seeming paradox and try
not to make powerful enemies along the way by being too doctrinaire.
The involvement of the private sector
bring innovation, in some cases higher risk to the student and can undermine
the viability of the public providers. Needs very careful management
and a focus on monitoring and managing the risks.
The integrity of the quality assurance
system can be at risk if its perceived that there are weaknesses in
the process.
Multiple pathways presents the challenge of the unknown and the risk is that beneficial change is undermined by those comfortable with what they know.
Structural change and new agencies take time to bed in, learn their business and establish networks.
There is a cultural shift involved for employers to have then think training.
Not every ITO is good. Need mechanisms to manage performance of ITOs and ensure industry buy-in
It will be harder to get training outcomes happening for some parts of the population and there might be a need for special targeted programmes or special incentives.
You need to be marketing what you are doing and why and your successes to the public.
Parents and teachers need to be able to see VET as valuable or they wont encourage young people in that direction.
There is a need for leadership within industry that is thinking not just about current training needs but about future changes and what they might mean for future training needs.
There needs to be mechanisms to link ITOs and tertiary providers to local, regional and national economic development strategies.
Don00 loose sight of industry productivity as the goal of training and just doing more training might not always be the answer
Tertiary strategy is a means to get the
whole tertiary system working towards national and regional goals in
a more co-ordinated way.
Polytechnics need to be clear about their
role and funding needs to recognise the high cost of some courses.
ITOs can work with industries to adopt a more deliberate and planned training approach which is looking forward and anticipating industry changes.
Networks are needed at national, regional
and local level and there needs to be good information flows about what
is happening in the labour market and the economy.
download New Zealand and Australia Vocational Education and Training
