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ACPET sets codes for members, agents
Private providers establish standards to self-regulate in attempt to protect reputations.
The Australian Council for Private Education and Training has officially launched its latest measure aimed at industry self-regulation – a new code of ethics for members.
The document, along with a separate Code of Practice for the Engagement of Education Agents, comes from ACPET during an ongoing Senate review and amidst a flurry of reported complaints relating to alleged unscrupulous behaviour by education providers.
The Senate has been examining allegations that some providers have used the VET FEE-HELP scheme to get enrolments from students who were poorly suited and unlikely to complete courses. As a result, the allegations state, many students have subsequently dropped out of courses with accrued debts.
Legislative changes federal Parliament passed in March restrict the methods educational providers will be able to use to induce prospective students to enrol and prevent providers charging lump sums up front for courses, amongst a number of others changes aimed at cracking down on the sector.
ACPET’ s code of ethics, launched in March, states that as a condition of admission and continuing membership, its providers must adhere to a raft of ethical standards, including ensuring that potential students are made fully aware of and understand all costs related to their prospective courses.
“ This is particularly important where a student is going to access VET FEE-HELP or FEE HELP to facilitate meeting the cost of the ACPET member’ s course,” the code states.“[ Member providers must also ] ensure the potential student understands the VET FEE- HELP or FEE HELP conditions( including loading rates, interest rates and repayment requirements) where applicable.”
The code also states that, prior to enrolment, a prospective student’ s ability to complete the relevant course must be assessed and, if found to be unsuitable, lower-level qualifications must be recommended as appropriate to the candidate’ s“ capability at the time of assessment”.
ACPET chief executive Rod Camm said the standard declares that“ members must not engage in any conduct that is contrary to government policy or has the potential to bring their institution, the sector, or ACPET into disrepute”.
Failure to adhere to the code may result in termination of a provider’ s ACPET membership.
Meanwhile, in response to ongoing complaints regarding the conduct of third-party agents recruiting students for providers, the Code of Practice for agents includes a call for ACPET members to“ make a stand on the need to eliminate those disreputable agents / brokers which are bringing adverse publicity on the sector and undermining the confidence of the community”.
ACPET is to establish a list of reputable agents; those included will be given priority by member organisations. In addition, ACPET pledged to encourage all agents and third-party brokers to recognise its code and even“ undertake ACPET-endorsed professional development in the responsibilities of agents / brokers”. n
Senator calls for contracts to increase collaboration and action to lower drop-out rates.
Unis must target workforce shortages: Carr
A future
Labor government would seek to reinstate some form of contract-based arrangement with universities to help target workforce shortages in industries of need, a national higher education forum has been told.
Speaking at the recent Universities Australia 2015 conference in Canberra, the shadow education minister, Kim Carr, told delegates that whilst such contracts had attracted criticism previously, there was“ room for negotiation” around measures to increase the collaboration between universities and the government to help address regional needs.
“ In return for public investment, Labor expects universities to work with the commonwealth to help address national and regional priorities in education and the labour market,” Carr said.“ The key to making this partnership work is to find a balance between institutional autonomy and accountability for the use of taxpayers’ funds.”
The Senator provided scant detail on what Labor envisaged for such an approach; however, he said its policies would be informed by meaningful consultation and collaboration with the higher-education sector, adding that“ every vice-chancellor in the country … will find my door open”. Carr said another key challenge was university drop-out rates. At some institutions, more than 20 per cent of students are failing to return for their second year of studies.
“ High attrition rates are costly for individuals and wasteful of human talent, not to mention scarce resources,” he told delegates.“ Participation is not enough. Labor governments fund enrolments because we want students to succeed – to graduate and pursue satisfying careers.
“ All of us who are concerned with public policy – whether we are in politics or in the sector – fail in our duty to Australia’ s students if we lose sight of that goal.” n
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