VET
Macro view is needed in analysis
Policymakers need to consider how much value TAFEs add to industry. By Dr John Mitchell
The director of a TAFE institute said to me recently that the problem with policymakers in Australia is that they focus solely on the cost of TAFE and not the value it adds. Meanwhile, those policymakers are busily taking advice from Treasury officials around Australia who prefer to scrutinise the cost per student hour of delivering routine lower-level certificate courses, rather than consider the benefits of customised TAFE training for industry clients. This is the micro view of VET instead of the macro.
Those policymakers and Treasury officials will not want to read a new publication I was commissioned to prepare by TAFE Directors Australia, the body which represents 61 public providers in Australia. TDA commissioned me to interview industry leaders from Australian organisations and then prepare five case studies of TAFE institutes effectively working with industry clients.
Each of the resulting five case studies shows how TAFE training meets one or more of these business and government goals ‒ increased productivity including global competitiveness, flexible workforces, highly qualified staff building careers, skills for the new economy and regional growth.
These demanding goals were identified as the focus of the case studies, following an examination of the priorities of COAG in relation to workforce development. Most of these priority topics were reiterated in a statement by the prime minister in early 2012 in which she called for the VET sector to deliver“ a better qualified and flexible workforce” that will“ help to lift productivity and competitiveness”.
These challenging foci for the various TDA case studies were deliberately selected in order to provide evidence that
TAFE institutes not only meet and exceed industry expectations but also meet important government policy goals. TDA invited me to independently select the five case studies but asked me to ensure they were examples of leading practice and covered five different industries and five different states or territories.
I make the point near the start of the TDA publication that this new set of five TDA case studies adds to the existing body of more than 75 case studies I have prepared since 2007, for ten other publications. Those earlier case studies profile the positive views about TAFE of representatives from Telstra, Optus, Qantas, Cochlear, BHP Billiton, BlueScope Steel, Sydney Water, Housing NSW, EnergyAustralia, Royal Australian Air Force, AirServices Australia, Ramsay Healthcare Group, Royal Perth Hospital and St John of God Health Care.
The published case studies describe TAFE working with companies overseas, from Qatar to Bangladesh and the Philippines, and with regional organisations such as Bega Cheese, Hyne Timber, Country Energy, Northparkes Mines and the NSW Rural Fire Service. The case studies also describe TAFE assisting manufacturing companies, automotive servicing companies, plant nurseries, supermarket chains, IT companies, disability organisations, Aboriginal organisations, local governments, aged care homes, children’ s services organisations and area health services.
In all case studies, representatives of the companies were interviewed, the interviews were recorded and the interviewees validated the accuracy of the published interview. Hence the five case studies set out in the new TDA publication now take to 80 the number of companies, from BHP Billiton through to small and medium businesses, which have publicly attested to the value delivered to their companies by TAFE.
In all those case studies, none of the industry interviewees mentioned low-cost delivery as a priority goal. Some of them said they appreciated TAFE’ s competitive pricing, but they all focused on the value TAFE brought to their businesses and were able to elaborate in detail about the value they sought and obtained from TAFE.
Flexibility is valued most In the TDA case studies I asked the industry interviewees what they most valued about TAFE. Flexibility was the word used by four of the five key industry interviewees, and the fifth interviewee chose a related term, innovative. In explaining what they meant by flexibility, all of the industry interviewees noted that TAFE understands their industry and their company, and used this knowledge to design and deliver relevant services.
In the first case study, Redarc Electronic’ s production manager Shane Wreford said of their partner, TAFE SA Adelaide South Institute:“ One of the things TAFE offers is flexibility; the training is scheduled to suit our business needs, and so the standout feature for me is their flexibility.” CEO Anthony Kittel added:“ It’ s customised to what Shane needs on the shop floor, it’ s customised to our operations; the timing is flexible. Most importantly, it’ s training on the job.”
In the second case study, Toyota Motor Corporation Australia’ s Bruce Chellingworth said of their TAFE partner in Queensland, SkillsTech Australia:“ What we get from them is flexibility in the geographic location of the training; and we also get flexibility in content. They are accessible to us as their partners and they listen to our feedback about what we need in the training. The best practice is simply the working
36 | March 2013