Wrap up: 23rd National VET Research Conference ‘No Frills’
Thank you to everyone that joined us last week in Melbourne . Over 200 participants, from Australia, East Timor and New Zealand joined NCVER’s 23rd National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference for 49 presentations, two keynotes and a conference dinner speaker in Fiona Lawrie, founder of Fanelle Tradies, a volunteer organisation assisting female apprentices in traditionally male dominated trades.
Steve Sargent, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Mining and Coordinating Chair of the B20 Human Capital Taskforce kicked off the program with an address that focused on how global trends are affecting industry. With the world becoming more digitised, high-paid, low-skill jobs are being lost and people will need re-skilling. Vocational education and training will need more focus on foundation, rather than job-specific skills.
Mark Burford, Executive Director, Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy and our second keynote shared his experiences working in a policy environment, discussed the importance of and the nexus between a good strong idea and the political will to develop and implement good policies.
The breadth of presentations at the conference was wide, but there were certainly a few running themes:
- The importance of working with industry partners to ensure students are coming out of VET qualifications with the skills they need.
- The experiences of VET practitioners, and methods they use to engage their students.
- The effect that reforms are having on enrolments, completions and the way VET is being delivered.
- Pathways both within the education system and into the workforce, and partnerships between VET and higher education providers.
- The value of mentoring and support structures in assisting students, particularly those who are disadvantaged or transitioning from VET to higher education.
A huge thank you to our co-host Holmesglen. Hemisphere Conference Centre, at their Moorabbin campus, provided a wonderful venue with amazing staff. And finally, thank you to all our sponsors for their ongoing support.
Save the Date!
We’re thrilled to announce the 24th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference ‘No Frills’ will be held from Monday 6 July to Wednesday 8 July 2015. Next year NCVER are co-hosting with The University of Western Sydney and TAFE NSW’s Western Sydney and South Western Sydney Institutes.
Stay tuned for further updates, and continue to follow us on Twitter: @NCVER and #ncvernofrills
Latest research releases
How reliable are SEIFA indexes?
At every five-yearly census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recalculates the SEIFA (Socio-economic Indexes for Areas) indexes and also recalibrates the borders and sizes of the geographic areas from which these SEIFA measurements are derived. NCVER reports vocational education and training (VET) participation rates at least annually, and the question that arises is how well the SEIFA indexes perform over the interim years. The authors find that there is little distortion in the measurement of participation in the intervening periods.
Measuring VET participation by socioeconomic status: an examination of the robustness of ABS SEIFA measures over time
Tom Karmel, Patrick Lim
http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2721.html
Latest statistical releases
Australian vocational education and training statistics: Students and courses 2013
The annual national snapshot of enrolments and training activity in publicly funded training shows there was an overall decline of 3.4% in student numbers compared with 2012. Fewer young people (aged 15 to 24 years) enrolled in training last year compared with the previous year, down from 820 700 in 2012 to 778 900 in 2013. At provider level, student enrolments declined in 2013 in comparison to 2012 at TAFE and other government providers (down 5.4%) and other registered providers (down 2.4%), but increased at adult and community education providers (up 14.9%).
http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2740.html
VOCEDplus Updates
The VOCEDplus special collections page brings together items relating to a specific theme or organisation. These include: Australian landmark reports; policy and research resources; publications from the former Australian National Training Authority (ANTA); publications from UNESCO-UNEVOC; resources from programs such as Workplace English Language and Literacy (WELL) and Adult Literacy National Project (ALNP); and publications from ‘Building researcher capacity’, NCVER’s Communities of Practice program.
Hot topics in VET
The areas of focus for the education and training sector are constantly changing as needs evolve and new topics rise in importance. We have identified five key areas relating to education and training:
- Governance of education and training systems
- Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
- Quality assurance in education and training
- Work integrated learning
- Youth unemployment.
We need your help to identify which of these is currently the most important. Click here to vote.
UNESCO UNEVOC Regional Forum
NCVER and TDA are proud to be co-hosting a UNESCO UNEVOC Regional Forum in Sydney on Sunday 31 August. The forum supports improved evidence-based research and greater investment in technical and vocational education and training.
Keynote speakers and contributors include:
- Dr Shyamal Majumdar, Head of UNEVOC, Bonn Germany
- Mr Rod Camm, Managing Director, NCVER
- Mr Martin Riordan, CEO of TAFE Directors and Deputy Chair of the World Federation of Colleges & Polytechnics
- Representatives from the International Labour Organisation, the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank and the Korean Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training.
The forum leads into the TDA Annual Conference, Vision 2020 to be held 1-2 September.
