MIRIAM LITWIN<\/p>\n
FEDERATION University head Professor Duncan Bentley has welcomed the development of the National Skills Agreement, or NSA, which will bring together TAFE and higher education programs.<\/p>\n
The NSA is a five-year agreement between the Commonwealth, state, and territory governments that\u2019s seeking to strengthen vocational education and training, with the aim of meeting Australia\u2019s skill shortages.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will succeed because it brings together all the players from unions and employers to providers and governments,\u201d said Professor Bentley.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also focuses on the needs of each region and, through vehicles such as free TAFE, adapts to the particular needs of each economic region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meeting localised needs is one the reasons behind Federation University\u2019s establishment of the first wind turbine apprenticeship in the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are different providers catering to different employer needs in our respective regions,\u201d said Professor Bentley.<\/p>\n
He also said the change is long overdue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn persevering with a binary post-secondary education system, Australia has also failed to keep up,\u201d Professor Bentley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTAFE is state and higher education is federal. The system tries to stop you doing both.<\/p>\n
\u201cYet most school leavers do not care what level the qualification is, they want what is needed to get their dream job.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Professor Bentley, the NSA is a step in the right direction to encouraging more Australians to take up higher education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe joint efforts by employers and education providers, with strong union support and government funding, are a vital step to incentivise a joined-up approach to skills and training,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sends a powerful, positive and aspirational message to those at school and those thinking of upskilling to a new career.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt last, we are seeing the development of an Australian framework to help turbocharge our skills and training capability.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MIRIAM LITWIN FEDERATION University head Professor Duncan Bentley has welcomed the development of the National Skills Agreement, or NSA, which will bring together TAFE and higher education programs. The NSA is a five-year agreement between the Commonwealth, state, and territory governments that\u2019s seeking to strengthen vocational education and training, with the aim of meeting Australia\u2019s […]<\/p>\n