Standing Committee on Employment, Education
and Workplace Relations
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Submission 9
BENDIGO REGIONAL INSTITUTE OF TAFE
RESPONSE TO THE INQUIRY INTO APPROPRIATE ROLES OF INSTITUTES OF
TECHNICAL AND FURTHER EDUCATION
by the
STANDING COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION AND TRAINING
which is tasked to inquire into and report on
- the appropriate roles of Institutes of Technical and Further Education:
and
- the extent to which those roles overlap with Universities.
INTRODUCTION
TAFE Institutes emerged as discrete identities after 1974. In the remainder
of the 70's and then through the 80's TAFE'S market could be readily identified
as that large sector of education and training not covered by either Secondary
Colleges or University Education. During this period TAFE developed national
products specifically designed to meet the needs for industry skill requirements
ranging from the skilled operative to line and middle management. During
the eighties the TAFE product was expressed in outcomes for trade training,
certificates and associate diplomas. Concurrent with this provision and,
as a result of expertise gained in the development and delivery of these
programs, TAFE also was able to address the training demands of many other
community service sectors, eg.
Corrections
Long term unemployed
Early school leavers
Mature age re-entry
Students at risk etc.
This experience gave TAFE a mature product that has now been successfully
marketed to corporate clients and to the much wider global market. Any
changes envisaged to the system should recognise this value added contribution
to the training system by TAFE Institutes. It is recognised that there
is growing interaction and competition between Universities and TAFE Institutes.
This is due to an upward expansion by TAFE as it meets industry demand,
via ITAB submissions, for more people to be trained with both skiH outcomes
and line management functions and a downward expansion by Universities
to keep a stable market share and to formalise an endeavour by the University
sector to be seen to have a "hands on capability".
The prime role for TAFE is to deliver education and training in response
to the emerging and constantly changing VET system. The shelf life of
many of the skills imparted to TAFE clients is as little as (3) three
years. It is therefore incumbent on the TAFE system to be aware of and
able to adapt to these rapid changes as the need arises. Being able to
meet these changing needs means that it is implicit that TAFE be in a
position to liaise both directly and indirectly with those industries
which are reflected in their program profile base.
Accordingly, TAFE values its close alliance with the corporate sector
and each TAFE Institution must be in a position to measure the needs of
local industry so that the program profile can be negotiated to fit identified
needs. This alliance has meant that each TAFE Institute takes a lead role
in communicating government policy or training and education to its local
industry sector. This point is evidenced by TAFE's involvement in the
New Apprenticeship and VET in Schools thrusts. It is these critical links
with the corporate sector that readily identifies and defines the scope
of TAFE Institutes within the VET system.
THE APPROPRIATE ROLES OF INSTITUTES OF FURTHER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
The historical snapshot sketched out in the introduction provides a chronological
picture of the evolved and evolved TAFE role. The options for TAFE in
the future can be delineated into three prime scenarios. These are:
1. Subsume TAFE delivery into schools and Universities.
2. Clearly define and support the role for a strengthened TAFE system
to enable it to continue to contribute to the skilling of Australia.
3. A proposal that would see the TAFE sector somewhere between the first
two scenarios, that is the current position.
In dealing with the first scenario it is difficult to see the potential
benefits it offers while it is simple to define the potential loss, that
is the symbiotic relationship that has been established between TAFE and
the corporate sector. This relationship would be very difficult to sustain
in such a scenario. If the role of TAFE is to be narrowed in the future
as both Secondary Colleges and Universities edge into the mainstream training
sector of trade training at one end and middle level diplomas at the other
end, then the expertise held by the TAFE system will be narrowed accordingly.
The narrowing of this base would seriously corrupt the ability of TAFE
Institutes to meet their community service obligations. For example it
appears highly improbable that a Secondary College of the future will
be able to effectively service the needs of students in correctional facilities
or students at risk. Equally improbable is the scenario of Universities
assisting early school leavers or the long term unemployed.
It appears that the TAFE sector has effectively identified and developed
a niche market. In serving that market it has developed all of the skills
and management processes required to efficiently meet a wide variety of
community obligations, while at the same time developing a product that
is the envy of its global competitors.
The second scenario calls for a strengthening and clarification of existing
TAFE roles which should leave the potential customer with a clear understanding
of responsibilities within the higher education sector. Such a scenario
would enable the TAFE sector to pursue its prime focus of:
- provision of employment oriented entry level vocational education
and training including New Apprenticeships.
- provision of re-skilling education and training as dictated by technological
change.
- provision of middle level vocational training that is clearly employment
outcome oriented.
- provision of "second chance" training for those at need
or at risk.
- provision of interventionalist skill based training for the corporate
sector.
In doing so TAFE Institutes will be in a position to further mature and
develop their products so that they can continue to value add to the economy
by decreasing their dependence on government sourced income.
The third scenario maintains the current positions of ambiguity and consequently
supports duplication of services across the sectors.
If the roles were to be clearly defined, there would be no evidence of
the overlap and consequent duplication that currently occurs.
THE EXTENT TO WHICH THOSE ROLES OVERLAP WITH UNIVERSITIES.
As both sectors of higher education actively compete for the same cohort
of potential students there is a misconception that this competition is
due to overlap in provision. In reality it is a manifestation of the entitlement
of potential students to choose which sector, University or TAFE, will
provide the client with their desired outcomes. The prospect of positive
employment outcomes as a result of undertaking a TAFE program has led
to TAFE Institutions increasing their market share of this cohort of potential
students.
Where overlap does exist in program delivery it is being dealt with by
articulation procedures. Unfortunately these articulation processes and
procedures are not nationally consistent. This is evidenced in existing
articulation and credit arrangements between Universities and TAFE Institutions.
Unfortunately this has led to a plethora of inconsistent levels of recognition.
The OTFE publication PATHWAYS '97 highlights many of these inconsistencies.
TAFE Institutes currently respond to national curricula driven by the
Australian Recognition Framework (ARF) and ITAB's representing Industry
needs, that is, TAFE has a standard product. This product is not recognised
by Universities as a standard and accordingly attracts different levels
of credit by different Universities for the same Bachelor Degree. This
paradox needs to be overcome before the system can be considered to be
reasonably transparent to the client.
Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE firmly believes that there is not
only enough room within the market for both sectors, but there are in
fact two distinct markets to serve. The University sector has a market
segment which has been long established. TAFE's market is an ever changing
target, as it should be, if it truly reflects industry needs. As TAFE
moves to meet these needs there will be a feeling from some quarters that
TAFE has moved into its own sector. In this reality it is the movement
by the corporate sector - not TAFE.
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