The Vocational Education and Training (VET) industry is in the news at present with the release of the Productivity Commission report 2017, which focuses on key areas such as health and education.
What a timely opportunity to reflect on what VET is and whether/why we need it…
VET plays a critical role in Australian education in ensuring workers are job-ready. It has been recognised by NCVER and the NSW Department of Industry as playing a key role in providing training for nationally recognised qualifications in job related and technical skills (NCVER 2007; NSW Department of Industry 2016).
We as a society ask a lot of our VET sector. The VET sector responds to the needs of young people leaving school and entering the field of further study and then work for the first time, just as it caters for workers who are already on the job – to re-train them and provide them an opportunity to gain new skills to keep pace with changes in industry and the economy. In addition, it is acknowledged that some people are marginalised by the traditional education system and the VET sector offers them a second chance (Oliver and Yu 2015).This is all very important to Australia, and Australians.
The Productivity Commission Productivity Review report acknowledged all of the above. It commenced its report on the VET system with the comment that:
“At the heart of Australia’s VET system is the objective of ensuring that employers can hire employees who are work-ready” (Productivity Commission, Productivity Review August 2017).
However, as the Productivity Commission report recognised, the VET sector has also faced a raft of problems of late. It has seen a very poorly administered funding scheme (VET FEE-HELP – now replaced) giving rise to large levels of student debt and much criticism, alongside low student completion rates in a number of qualifications, poor employment results for some students and, as has been well publicised, fraudulent behaviour on the part of some RTOs (which the Regulator ASQA has focused on weeding out) (Productivity Commission 2017).
In this context, the VET sector has been through a lot over the past couple of years. There have been various aspects that have left a stain on what is otherwise such a critical sector within Australian society, and people rightly wonder what is next. So is VET a failure? Is it a poor cousin to university? Is it worth investing in?
In this series, we look at the fact that VET has a very important part to play in Australian education. In doing so, we offer a re-focus — just what is the truth about VET? This – the Truth of VET – is the focus of next week’s Studymassage News, where we lay it out – just why should we bother with VET? As we will see, the reasons are multifold and benefit us as a whole society.
This article was first published in Evolve College News.
Serryn O'Regan 
Excellent article Serryn,
I really feel that those marginalised by the traditional education system get a second chance with VET. Not all appreciate the 2nd chance and make the most of it. We have seen government funding to help the people get their qualification which on its own has not lead to people being “job ready”. Traditional courses need to be blended with workplace participation as part of the qualification. The Apprenticeship system is one area that seems to be working well as there is a level commitment and responsibility from the trio of student employer and VET training provider.
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