Over the coming months, Business Pulse will be featuring articles, comprised from a suite of policy papers composed for the Board, summarising CCI’s general policy objectives on a range of areas across the spectrum of commerce and industry.
These papers reflect the broad scope of CCI’s behind-the-scenes policy work and give members a snapshot of some of the issues and areas in which CCI is working to create an economic and legislative environment that encourages the development of free enterprise.
CCI supports an education and training system that provides choice, promotes flexibility and is responsive to the needs of individuals and industry.
The Australian education and training system is characterised by different, and often diverse, state and territory policies overlayed by the Commonwealth’s policy positions. However, all jurisdictions separate the system into three distinct areas: schools, vocational education and training (VET), and universities.
Although the policy framework in the three sectors is often developed and applied separately, there is considerable overlap and it is increasingly difficult to consider each sector in isolation.
Major policy overlap may be seen in areas such as:
- credit transfer and mutual recognition of qualifications between schools, VET providers and universities
- the student contribution to the cost of VET and university courses and the disparity of costs between sectors
- articulation
- the provision of vocational programs in the post-compulsory school years and the issues this raises for the VET sector
- the graduation of school students with low level literacy, numeracy and employability skills and the issues this raises for the VET and university sectors
- the debate about tertiary entrance requirements and the best way of assessing student capabilities for university entry
Funding and choice
Across all three sectors, public funds and individual choice should be inextricably linked. Student-centred funding allows individuals to take control of the public funds allocated for their own education and training.
In the schools sector, parents who choose private sector education for their children are denied access to the state-provided public funds allocated for their children.
Commonwealth funds are provided to private schools to allow some subsidisation of fees. However, there is no mechanism available for parents to exercise educational freedom and access the public funding to purchase a place for their children at the school of their choice - be it public or private.
Serious consideration should be given by all governments to a range of student-centred funding modules such as student vouchers and charter schools.
The user choice model in the VET sector allows employers of apprentices and trainees to choose the registered training organisation their employees will attend.
The public funds available for this training then follow the student to the provider of choice.
However, all states and territories have progressively moved backwards from full user choice arrangements. The current user choice system is characterised by bureaucratic processes that discourage the entry of new private training organisations into the market, by fixed quotas and ceilings on numbers of apprentices and trainees that can be trained by private providers and by a thin market approach that restricts access in regional areas or occupational areas with low enrolments.
All state and territory governments should immediately implement full user choice arrangements for all employment-based training programs.
In the university sector, individuals are able to exercise choice over course and institution. However, student numbers have been regulated by fixed quotas and student demand controlled by fixed funding models.
The recent higher education reforms will provide greater competition, encourage choice and ensure value and demand are factors that will be considered in determining course offerings.
Choice promotes quality, responsiveness and flexibility. The provision of public funding to support choice should be an essential element of the education and training system.
Literacy, numeracy and employability skills
Parents, post-school education and training providers, and employers share a common expectation that students graduating from the school system will have an acceptable level of literacy, numeracy and generic skills. Unfortunately, these expectations are often not met.
For employers, many young people presenting for employment lack a range of basic skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, initiative, planning and organisation skills, self-management and an appreciation of technology. These basic skills are essential to enable an individual to secure and maintain employment.
There should be a concerted effort to ensure all school graduates possess adequate literacy and numeracy skills.
The ACCI / BCA Employability Skills Framework should be adopted by the schools sector and the key skills in the framework embedded into the school curriculum.
Self-managed institutions
In the schools and VET sectors, a highly centralised and bureaucratic model is used for the management and operation of the systems.
The university sector operates under a decentralised, self-managed model, which has become further deregulated under the recent higher education reforms.
There is a need to move public sector schools and TAFE colleges to a self-managed model where responsibility for major operational issues such as staffing, asset and resource management and financial management is devolved to the schools and colleges.
Two key elements of this decentralised approach are single line budgeting and selection on merit.
Under current arrangements schools and colleges are unable to make major expenditure decisions. Staff costs are allocated and managed centrally and school principals have no control over this area.
Similarly, recruitment and selection processes are managed centrally. School principals have little control over teachers allocated to their school and a similar lack of control over the selection of teachers for senior or supervisory roles.
Teachers are promoted to senior positions based on a range of criteria with length of service being a key consideration.
Schools and TAFE colleges should be locally managed and supported by an expert external board drawn from local community and business and they should have direct control over expenditure, staff costs, selection, recruitment and promotion on merit.
Quality teaching and learning
The most important element of the educational process is the relationship between the individual teacher or trainer and the student. It is essential that all sectors of the education and training sector provide the support needed to allow quality teaching outcomes.
In the secondary school years, teachers should have access to industry access programs or return to industry programs that allow them to maintain links with the workplace and apply their teaching to real world situations.
There should also be a focus on providing programs to suit individual learner needs, which particularly in the senior secondary years will support student retention strategies.
Schools should enter into partnerships with VET providers and universities to offer integrated programs in an effort to make the post-compulsory schooling component meaningful and relevant to the students’ post-school needs.
The quality of teaching and learning will be enhanced by improving the articulation arrangements across the three education and training sectors and by ensuring closer collaboration and connection between schools, VET providers and universities.
Evaluation of program outcomes
Although there is some benchmarking of educational outcomes, there is not a standardised and systematic approach to benchmarking provider performance.
Employers cannot be confident that the same qualification issued by different schools, colleges or universities has covered the same content, been assessed at the same level and produced the same outcome.
There should be a standard approach to the measurement of education and training outcomes to ensure consistency of results.
Equality
All individuals regardless of gender, ethnicity or personal circumstance have a right to access education and training that is relevant to their needs.
With this right comes the responsibility to contribute financially to their own learning in a way that fits their personal circumstances.
There should be education and training opportunities available for disadvantaged groups and people with special needs and recognition that individuals need appropriate resources to support their learning.