astra domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/studyfoxx/public_html/proactivetraining.com.au/news/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131A recent paper put out by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) in late June summarises the outcomes of consultations that took place between December 2020 and March 2021.<\/p>\n
Using surveys, online workshops and webinars, and meetings, it\u2019s looked at a range of issues: including the RTO standards, VET workforce issues \u2013 including its quality as well as Training Packages, assessment, learner support and industry engagement.<\/p>\n
According to the Department\u2019s paper<\/a>, they \u201creceived 1276 survey responses and 641 people participated in workshops and webinars.\u201d They also held 43 meetings. In all 1960 people participated in the process. They were drawn from all states and territories, but those in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland were big contributors.<\/p>\n The consultation process was informed by two papers, the first entitled: RTO Quality Issues<\/a> and the second Supporting the VET Workforce<\/a>. Regular VDC News readers will recall that we highlighted an earlier part of the feedback from the skills reform consultation process, including these papers, in an article<\/a> in early June this year, but there was another in February<\/a> focused on the papers themselves.<\/p>\n This present paper is where the \u2018rubber hits the road\u2019 on some of the key issues of concern to VET practitioners and providers about quality, and the VET workforce.<\/p>\n The paper suggests that RTOs need to be \u201cstudent-centred and supportive of individual learning needs to ensure students have a positive learning experience and achieve their desired learning and\/or employment outcomes.\u201d RTOs also need to be adaptable, flexible and responsive and \u201chave strong links and partnerships with employers.\u201d As the paper points out, \u201cthis enables them to better contextualise training and to meet the needs of industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, RTOs need \u201chigh-quality trainers and assessors with strong links to industry, coupled with a \u201cfocus on continuous improvement, including using student and employer feedback to improve processes and delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n No surprises here! However, the DESE\u2019s informants also suggested there needed to be a clearer definition of quality. That\u2019s no easy task as \u2018quality\u2019 actually has many conceptual dimensions.<\/p>\n DESE\u2019s paper<\/a> highlights many dimensions affecting quality and its regulation: the quality of the VET workforce, Training Packages and their quality, the level and quality of learner support, and industry engagement. The value and use of professional networks and collaboration between RTOs to develop and share resources is important as well but can be hampered by competitive pressures. Assessment is up there as an issue too, so let\u2019s unpack all of this a bit.<\/p>\n In relation to Training Packages, issues raised in DESE\u2019s consultations were the \u201cfrequent non-substantive changes to [them], which place undue burden on RTOs and disrupt learners, as well as [their] inflexibility and not reflecting current or local industry practice.\u201d Another issue was the current transition\/teach-out arrangements seen as administratively burdensome and disruptive for students by some RTOs.<\/p>\n In relation to assessment, validation is not well understood or practised and also seen as burdensome. (See another article<\/a> in this issue for further insights on this issue!). RPL is not well understood either. Finally, \u201csome stakeholders \u2026 suggested that quality-assured standardised assessment tools would allow RTOs to focus more on delivery, rather than resource development and compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n In relation to VET workforce quality, capability frameworks were seen as useful, and maintaining industry currency was important, as was access to professional development. Mentoring also helped \u201csupport and improve the confidence and skills of trainers and assessors.\u201d Learner support by RTOs is important as well to help ensure effective participation by students in their studies and address any learning and personal difficulties students have which may adversely affect their studies.<\/p>\n Two important final messages were, first, a need to focus more on teaching and learning practice: both in the content of the Cert IV and in terms of regulatory focus. The second was a concern about the ‘one size fits all’ approach towards entry requirements for trainers and assessors, \u201cnoting that flexible requirements could help to attract more industry experts to the role.\u201d A current NCVER project<\/a> by colleagues from Griffith University is doing some work on this latter issue, so we will keep our eye out for the outcomes of that work.<\/p>\n Achieving high quality in the VET sector<\/a> | VDC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A recent paper put out by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) in late June summarises the outcomes of consultations that took place between December 2020 and March 2021. Using surveys, online workshops and webinars, and meetings, it\u2019s looked at a range of issues: including the RTO standards, VET workforce issues \u2013 including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-workplace-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4754"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4755,"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4754\/revisions\/4755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proactivetraining.com.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What this latest paper tells us<\/h2>\n
What makes for RTO excellence?<\/h3>\n
Issues affecting quality<\/h3>\n
The challenges to quality and achieving RTO excellence<\/h3>\n