VET & TAFE campusreview. com. au
Completion anxiety
The proportion of students finishing their diplomas and certificates is down slightly; but the news isn’ t all bad.
By Andrew Bracey
Completion rates for VET programs at Certificate I and above funded by the government have declined slightly, according to data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research.
The NCVER report, The Likelihood of Completing a Government-funded VET Program 2009 – 13, estimated that the overall completion rate for students commencing studies in 2013 was just 34 per cent. The rate for students who commenced study in 2012 was 36 per cent.
In better news, those embarking on diploma-level study as well as level IV and III certificates in 2013 had a higher chance of seeing their courses through than the overall rate, with 42.2 per cent, 40.9 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively, estimated to have completed their training.
Meanwhile, education courses( 57.5 per cent) along with natural and physical sciences courses( 47.5 per cent) programs had the highest national completion rates in government-funded VET, ahead of management and commerce studies( 44.1 per cent).
The data pre-dates recent federal government crackdowns on unscrupulous training providers following widespread reports that unsuitable students were being encouraged to take out VET-FEE loans to fund courses they were unlikely to complete.
The NCVER report found that for students in full-time study aged 25 and under who had completed no prior post-secondary education or training, the national estimated completion rate was 40.9 per cent. This figure, too, was down from the rate of 46.8 per cent for programs commenced in 2012.
The new Minister for Education and Training, Simon Birmingham – who was formerly assistant minister for the department – said that while not all students enrolled in courses with the intent of completing them, the rates remained significant, with 86 per cent of those completing apprenticeships or traineeships in 2014 subsequently gaining employment.
Birmingham took aim at the former Labor government over the dwindling completion rates, saying the figures revealed the impact of its“ failed policies”, which he said had let down VET students and employers.
“ Previous NCVER data shows apprenticeship completions flatlined under Labor at around 50 per cent, and today’ s data shows this slump extends across the entire VET spectrum of qualifications,” he says.“ The [ Coalition ] Government is committed [ to ] VET training that provides real skills for work and employment, improves the quality and relevance of training, and raises the status of a VET qualification to its rightful place as a rewarding and valued career pathway.”
Master Builders Australia chief executive Wilhelm Harnisch told 2UE radio part of the key to turning the figures around was better matching the aspirations of young people and better communicating the opportunities apprenticeships and trades make possible.
“ It’ s very sad,” Harnisch says.“ For about a decade now there’ s been a dropout rate of about 50 per cent and that tells you something isn’ t right. There are a number of issues. [ For example ], there’ s the industrial relations situation where a young person can make more money as a labourer than as an apprentice. Master Builders in Victoria has just released a study showing that an unskilled labourer can earn around $ 120,000 without completing a trade.”
Harnisch, however, urged young listeners not to be“ seduced by more money in the short term, because as a tradesperson you will end up earning more money in the long term”.
“ People aren’ t aware that those who finish apprenticeships go on to be very successful businesspeople – as the Master Builders study in Victoria also showed – earning more money than engineers and in some cases lawyers and doctors,” he explains.“ Obviously, the industry needs to work harder at communicating the value and attractiveness of building trades.” ■
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