Standing Committee on Employment, Education
and Workplace Relations
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Submission 41
Submission to the Inquiry into the Appropriate Roles of Institutes of
Technical and Further Education conducted by the House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training
22 October 1997
1 General
The University of Western Australia is currently examining the possibility
of collaborations with different colleges of technical and further education
in Western Australia, so the roles of TAFE and the University have been
under our consideration in recent months. In Western Australia the possible
arrangements are made more intricate by the independence of the TAFE colleges
from each other, but this should not prevent generalisations being made
about the role of the colleges in broad terms.
It is a truism to say that the last decade has been one of far-reaching
and often hectic change in post-secondary education in Australia, fuelled
by developments in government policy and technological innovation. The
resulting mergers of institutions have meant some universities joining
institutions which have links with technical and further education. On
the other hand, policy changes may be seen to have increased the differences
between TAFE colleges and universities; this would certainly be the situation
in Western Australia.
2 The Appropriate Roles of Institutes of Technical and Further Education
In Western Australia TAFE colleges come under the strategic management
of the Department of Training, and comprise slightly less than half of
the vocational education and training sector. It is our understanding
that the Department of Training follows policies which ensure that TAFE
colleges have a different role from universities. TAFE serves the labour
market in a fairly direct way. Courses are designed to impart limited
but clearly defined practical skills. Most are of short duration and students
are assessed against a predetermined list of competencies to be obtained;
students achieve the competency or don't, without gradings that compare
one student with another or restrictions on the number ot times they can
attempt the course. Only a small percentage of students are enrolled in
long term diploma programmes. The provision of courses is very much labour
market-driven. Despite the independent management of each college, assessment
is meant to be nationally consistent, enabling students to move between
colleges with relative ease.
By contrast, universities, on the whole, provide courses of a much more
generalist, historical and theoretical nature, demanding greater conceptual
ability and less concern with particular competencies. The latter are
not completely absent of course, since levels of literacy, computer or
laboratory skills, for example, may be prerequisites to completion of
a unit of study; however, these will only ever comprise a small element
of the requirements. Increasingly, attention is given to enabling students
to understand processes and to acquire life-long learning abilities in
areas such as critical analysis, reasoning, imagination and scientific
method. Courses are provided taking some note of market demand but their
content and structure reflect the views of recognised specialists having
regard to the area of knowledge for its own sake. The link between teaching
and research, with each influencing the other, is seen as fundamental.
The great majority of students pursue long term degree programmes and
are graded on scales that enable comparison of one student with another.
Time limits are imposed for the completion of degree programmes, and the
programmes may vary substantially from university to university. A university
such as ours also has a substantial number of students undertaking supervised
postgraduate research, an activity absent from TAFE colleges, which are
teaching institutions while universities are institutions of teaching
and research. Research efficiency, particularly in areas such as medicine
and science which require specialised equipment, is best achieved through
a degree of concentration. It could be argued that the nation's research
effort is already too widely dispersed.
The University believes that the roles currently undertaken by universities
and TAFE colleges respectively are appopriate to current circumstances,
and that neither type of institution has the expertise to largely take
over the functions of the other.
3 The Extent to which the Roles of TAFE Should Overlap with those
of Universities
The National Training Authority in its submission to the Review of Higher
Education Financing and Policy points to substantial growth in both university
enrolments (following the Dawkins changes) and participation in vocational
education and training, plus shifts of students between the two types
of institution, particularly from universities to VET. Much could be said
in favour of the education philosophies behind the teaching and learning
undertaken in both universities and TAFE colleges, but a philosophical
argument is likely to be of limited assistance in this review. Given that
Australian universities have a strong reputation internationally (comparisons
for TAFE colleges are more difficult to obtain), enrolments and performance
indicators such as the quality audits undertaken for universities suggest
that each type of institution is satisfying a demand and performing a
useful function in both training and more broadly educating the nation
(not to mention earning substantial export income). Each type of institution
is helping Australia towards maintaining and improving its position as
a nation with the intellectual capacity widely seen to be essential to
economic and social success in the twenty-first century. Given the pace
of economic, technological and social change in the contemporary world,
this University believes that there is a great need for diversity, both
within the university system and within post-secondary education more
broadly. Competition between TAFE colleges and universities will diminish
the range of educational opportunities for Australians.
4 Collaborations between Universities and TAFE Colleges
An acceptance of different roles will allow the possibility of collaboration
between the two different types of institution, each drawing on its expertise
to provide students with a mix of abilities and levels of knowledge. The
University of Western Australia recognises the value of TAFE's mission
in offering vocational training with a strong industry orientation and
its capacity to offer short term courses, often at short notice. Such
training ultimately derives from the more pure, knowledge-based and research-linked
teaching of universities, and represents a practical application of such
knowledge. Difference in orientation will provide services for the more
theoretically minded (at university), the more practically minded (at
TAFE), and those who want something of both. This University is currently
investigating collaborations with TAFE colleges, including means by which
students might be able to enrol at the University on the basis of their
results in TAFE courses or enrol at TAFE in a more streamlined fashion
after completing degree studies, particularly in the more generalist degrees
of Arts and Science.
The University is also seeking collaborations which allow the sharing
of expensive resources. An example of this is the Advanced Manufacturing
Technologies Centre laboratory, co-ordinated by a consortium of The University
of Western Australia, Curtin University and TAFE at Wembley, and used
by TAFE students and students in our Bachelor of Engineering (Material
Engineering) programme. This facility also allows for research activity,
with research expertise provided by the universities and technical assistance
provided by TAFE.
Generally speaking, the University wishes to avoid confusing its own
role by attempting to teach TAFE courses on campus. There are, however,
some areas of convergence in which the University may be able to teach
limited VET courses, either because of special expertise or because such
courses are not offered by TAFE colleges. Examples might come in areas
such as Music, Mathematics, Computer Science or Agriculture. Further,
universities may be able to collaborate with TAFE to teach different aspects
of joint courses; one such is currently planned for this University, Curtin
University and TAFE in the area of oral health.
It is crucial to realise that such collaborations are enabled by differences
in philosophy and practice between the two types of educational institution.
We believe that such collaborations are to be fostered, and would welcome
any steps taken by the Standing Committee on Employment, Education and
Training to overcome obstacles to collaboration. Amongst these we would
identify the absence of graded assessment practices in TAFE colleges and
the different funding arrangements, whereby TAFE fees are kept very low
through government (largely state government) subsidy, and no HECS system
applies. We would also note that successful collaboration between universities
and TAFE colleges frequently requires use of the internet, electronic
mail and video conferencing -- in other words, adequate technological
facilities, for which either type of institution needs reasonable funding.
Collaboration may provide a way to break down barriers between the city
and the bush, as well as between universities and TAFE colleges.
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