A single lens for tertiary education will benefit Australia

The conversation about the need for Australians to have high skill levels has gained traction since the Jobs and Skills Summit in 2022.

There is now wide acceptance that the working population will increasingly need a post school qualification through TAFE or university to actively participate in the workforce. 

Individuals will need to acquire skills through short courses or higher qualifications. It is expected that the divide that has existed between skills obtained through vocational education and training and higher education will dissipate.

To achieve this, the Australian Government will need to enable partnered, experimental learning environments. A positive step in the right direction, through the National Skills Agreement, the Government has partnered with states and territories to establish nationally networked TAFE Centres of Excellence (TCoE) to support the development of a skilled workforce to meet national requirements. 

TCoEs will increase collaboration between TAFEs and deliver essential skills for people to secure productive work and build their careers. They will also focus on national priority industries and the skills that are required to deepen the workforce.

TCoEs have been forming links with other TAFEs, which is evident through the Canberra Institute of Technology’s Electric Vehicle TCoE and their active educator group representing TAFEs from all over the country who are discussing learning approaches. TCoEs are a significant and essential development to create a new environment for higher level skills to be developed.  

For the first time in many years we are seeing the emergence of an environment that generates new ideas for solutions, that has multiple partners and is focused on developing higher level skills in essential industries. The continuation of investment in these centres of excellence is essential to continue building on the important gains in learning we are achieving nationally.

Importantly, TCoEs offer a piece of infrastructure through which vocational education and higher education can connect. 

It is fair to say that higher education and vocational education and training have developed separately over the last 50 years. Currently, the two parts that make up tertiary education move quite independently of each other. With the requirement for a stronger focus on national priority industries and higher-level skills development, moving hand in glove is a much better long-term strategy.

However, in practical terms we are not yet seeing the development of one tertiary education system where there is a single lens over the whole. There are numerous current examples to show this separation. One is the continuation of higher education diplomas challenging the traditional vocational education and training diplomas. Another is the new vocational degrees that are equivalent to bachelor degrees. While both are good solutions to problems experienced by their stakeholders, they do not demonstrate harmonisation of tertiary education. 

Tafe Directors Australia submitted 10 big ideas to the Universities Accord in 2023, the first of which was for one tertiary education system.

A single vision for tertiary education is needed if innovation is to occur and individuals are to be encouraged to develop the higher-level skills that are right for them, and to participate in lifelong skills acquisition. 

Harmonisation is about looking at the whole tertiary education system and how it is contributing to productivity improvement and enabling access to learning and skills. It is about ensuring one part does not develop at the expense of the other.

For far too long school leavers have been encouraged into higher education when vocational education and training might have been more suitable. 

Equally, we are now in an environment where higher level skills are needed. This means those with vocational education qualifications will also be required to have higher education outcomes. And perhaps even more important is how individuals and industries can encourage a combination of both.

The next three years will likely drive businesses to invest in the skills of their people. TAFEs have deep and strong relationships with business communities and will continue to foster and grow those relationships. 

TCoEs are an important piece of the infrastructure enabling businesses to access skills development. They are a practical contribution supporting the goal of a single tertiary education system.