The Scan’s year

29/12/2015 by
Refugees2

Summer edition 2016 __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Scan in 2015 This year’s top ten reads were heavily skewed towards the “VET crisis” and attempts by authorities (rather belatedly in our view) to stamp out the obvious rorting, particularly in VET FEE-HELP funding, which has been truly scandalous. In fact, the number one post this year on The Scan is also the number one post of all time and by quite a bit. If you enter “rorting” in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ABC, ACCC, ACPET, ASQA, Budget, Education policy, Higher education policy, Higher education providers, Science, Social media, Society, TAFE, The Scan, universities, University budgets, VET, Vocation Pty Ltd, Vocational education & training, Zeitgeist Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Scan in 2015

26/12/2015 by

 26 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… On account of other pressing matters in 2015 published editions of The Scan, with a completely refreshed front page heralded to subscribers by an e-newsletter, were down quite a bit – just 21 in 2015 compared to 40 in in 2014. Nevertheless, some 350 items were posted, which is about 8 a week in The Scan’s year, a little down on the 10 items posted a week last year. Traffic to the Scan website remained strong, down about 20% on last year’s figures. The Scan’s now extensive archive of nearly 3000 posts creates “organic” traffic: over one third of all Scan traffic now flows from search engines and referrals. Regular readers will have … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACCC, ACPET, ASQA, Budget, Canberra University, Commonwealth policies, Education policy, Higher education policy, Qualifications, Quality audits, TAFE, The Scan, universities, University budgets, University of Canberra, University reform, VET, Vocation Pty Ltd, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Acquire in the dock

18/12/2015 by
Acquire Learning1

Fairfax Media   |   18 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Acquire Learning is the latest training company to land in the Federal Court accused of unconscionable conduct and false or misleading behaviour after it sold tens of thousands of government-funded courses to vulnerable job-seekers.  The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has alleged before the Federal Court that the company bought the details of unsuccessful applicants on job websites, then cold-called them to sell expensive diploma courses. …………………………………………………………………………………….......……   The courses, funded under the federal-government funded VET FEE-HELP loan scheme, cost … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACCC, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Scan #176 16 December 2015

16/12/2015 by

News __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Rebalancing Victorian VET 16 December 2015     |     The Victorian government has released the Final Report of The VET Funding Review (Mackenzie Report).  It’s a weighty document, both literally and figuratively, running to 173 pages and 109 recommendations. Skills minister Steve Herbert says the government accepts the “general thrust” of the report and its recommendations.  It will take the next year to work through design and implementation issues and to consult with stakeholders ahead of the introduction of a new funding model in 2017.  Certain … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, Budget, COAG, Coalition policies, Higher Education Standards Panel, LH Martin Institute, Life & stuff, Notices, Qualifications, TAFE, The Scan, universities, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reforming vocational education: it’s time to end the exploitation of vulnerable people

16/12/2015 by

The case for REAL reform Republished 16 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… It's hard to argue with the proposition that Australia’s vocational education sector is a mess.  Mary Leahy (University of Melbourne) writes that tightening regulation and tweaking some of the settings will contain the damage, but these measures alone will not address deeper problems in the sector.   Real, sustained improvement requires rethinking the funding and regulatory models but also the purpose and idea of vocational education. …………………………………………………………………………………….......……   How the business model works There is clear evidence of rorting and rent-seeking in the vocational education … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, TAFE, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Neil Coulson appointed Victoria’s first Skills Commissioner

16/12/2015 by
Neil Coulson

16 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Mr Coulson has extensive experience working in industry and was the CEO of the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) from 2000 to 2007.  He has also held a number of other senior roles in industry including Chief of Australian Manufacturer Jacyo Corporation from 2007 to 2012 and was a member of the Victorian Learning and Employment Skills Commission between 2001 and 2004. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The Commissioner’s role is to work with industry to ensure that Victorian students get skills that will lead to real jobs and real productivity for industry and employers. In announcing the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Scan, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , ,

Rebalancing VET in Victoria

16/12/2015 by
VET cover

Review proposes "a more managed,sustainable training system" 16 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Victorian government has released the Final Report of The VET Funding Review (Mackenzie Report).  It’s a weighty document, both literally and figuratively, running to 173 pages and 109 recommendations. Skills minister Steve Herbert says the government accepts the “general thrust” of the report and its recommendations.  It will take the next year to work through design and implementation issues and to consult with stakeholders ahead of the introduction of a new funding model in 2017.  Certain matters, however, are given, such as restoring the public provider network … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, Budget, TAFE, The Scan, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

“Further work” needed on COAG VET reforms

14/12/2015 by
VELG

VET funding a “race to the bottom”, NSW skills minister says TDA News   |     14 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, state premiers and chief ministers have agreed to more closely review reforms and regulation, which had begun under the original COAG National Partnership Agreement on skills - initially created in April 2012 under Prime Minister Julia Gillard. …………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The COAG meeting in Sydney on 11 December 2015 agreed that “further work will be undertaken on options to reform vocational education and training, for initial consideration at COAG’s first meeting in 2016, recognising that skills … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, TAFE, TAFE Directors Australia, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Scan #175 11 December 2015

11/12/2015 by

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ News __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ VET FEE-HELP skewering system   11 December 2015      |       Explosive growth in the VET FEE-HELP scheme has masked massive direct public disinvestment in vocational education and training. While a report by NCVER shows a notional growth of 1.7% in 2014 over 2013 (plus $141.0 million, from $8512.4 million to $8653.4 million), it’s all in VET-FEE Help payments: actual direct expenditure by governments, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACCC, ACPET, ASQA, Budget, Commonwealth policies, Grattan Institute, Higher education policy, Labor higher education policy, LH Martin Institute, Life & stuff, NCVER, Notices, Qualifications, Research, Science, Society, TAFE, Tertiary media, The Scan, universities, Universities Australia, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

VET FEE-HELP “skewing” system

11/12/2015 by
NCVER Financial 2014

Direct public expenditure on VET dropping The Australian   |     10 December 2015 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Explosive growth in the VET FEE-HELP scheme has masked massive direct public disinvestment in vocational education and training.  While a report by NCVER shows a notional growth of 1.7% in 2014 over 2013 (plus $141.0 million, from $8512.4 million to $8653.4 million), it’s all in VET-FEE Help payments: actual direct expenditure by governments, including the Commonwealth declined markedly VET FEE-HELP.  VET funding through state and territory governments fell almost $320m, while fee-for-service ­revenue — largely contributed by businesses — fell more than $130m. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: NCVER, VET, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , ,
Next Page»