NSW TAFE Commission Board Submission to the Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment’S Inquiry Into TAFE
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NSW TAFE Commission Board submission to the Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment’s Inquiry into TAFE Introduction The NSW TAFE Commission Board (the TAFE Board) appreciates the opportunity to contribute to the Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee (the Committee) on Education and Employment’s Inquiry into the role of the TAFE system and its operation (TAFE Inquiry). The Board provides strategic direction for TAFE NSW and advice to the NSW Minister for Education. TAFE NSW is an innovative and dynamic organisation offering customised training solutions catering to diverse learner, industry and community stakeholders and supporting economic development across the State. On 1 May 2013, the Board made a comprehensive submission to the previous 2013 House of Representatives Inquiry into the role of TAFE. The Board supports this Committee considering both this submission and the Board’s previous submission as part of its current deliberations. Although this additional submission makes no new recommendations, it provides supplementary information highlighting recent State and national developments that impact on TAFE NSW. This submission provides an overview of the role of TAFE NSW and focuses on: how this role is articulated in the NSW Government’s Statement of Owner Expectations how TAFE NSW provides social and economic value for individuals, communities and the State TAFE NSW’s strong industry focus and relationships. This additional information highlights the role of TAFE NSW as the public provider of vocational education and training (VET) in NSW. TAFE NSW – value proposition In our 2013 submission, the Board recommended that the Commonwealth “publicly articulates the role and value of TAFE and the essential contribution TAFE makes nationally to the economy, community and in addressing disadvantage”. Subsequently, on 28 August 2013, the NSW Minister for Education, the Hon. Adrian Piccoli MP, released the NSW TAFE Commission Statement of Owner Expectations (the Statement). The Statement is unique in Australia and explicitly recognises the critical role of TAFE as the public provider supporting achievement of the economic and social priorities of the State. It is framed by NSW 2021: A plan to make NSW number one and sets out new directions that will ensure TAFE NSW services remain efficient, effective and relevant in the new competitive environment. 1 The Statement sets specific objectives for TAFE NSW as the public VET provider, not least of all providing stability throughout the reform process. TAFE NSW will continue to be the backbone of the training system in NSW. This includes setting the benchmark for quality, supporting the NSW Government’s economic priorities and increasing individuals’ workforce capability. As the State’s public provider, TAFE NSW will continue to receive some direct public funding, but is expected to compete for entitlement funding, increase its commercial revenue and decrease its reliance on government funding. The Statement sets out TAFE NSW’s critical role providing access to a broad range of high quality training for people regardless of where they live or their circumstances. This includes providing specialist and accessible training services, foundation skills and second chance education options to ensure that people who face disadvantage can gain the education and skills they need for the workforce. TAFE NSW will continue to have ownership and management of its capital assets to determine the best local and responsive forms of delivery. The Statement outlines new governance and budget arrangements for TAFE NSW including: greater separation from the Department of Education and Communities (including the October 2012 decision to separate the position of Managing Director from that of the Secretary of Education and Communities) a separate and distinct budget for TAFE NSW allowing it to operate as a distinct financial entity with greater transparency greater authority and accountability for TAFE NSW Institutes as separate entities wholly owned and controlled by TAFE NSW greater authority within an agreed accountability framework for Institutes to manage their finances, assets and workforces. The Statement requires the Board to submit an annual Statement of Business Intent to the Minister, identifying major risks and critical areas of performance accountability. The Minister’s Statement of Owner Expectations can be downloaded from: www.tafensw.edu.au/about/soe. Let’s Talk about TAFE The new directions outlined in the Statement, were informed by TAFE NSW’s largest ever public consultation, Let's Talk about TAFE. It was conducted by the Board in 2013 at the request of the NSW Minister for Education. It sought feedback on what the people of NSW value about TAFE NSW, how effective it is in meeting industry and community needs and how TAFE NSW needs to adapt in a changing environment. The Let’s talk about TAFE project consisted of a representative survey (conducted by Newspoll) of 1,905 adults in NSW, 844 detailed responses to an online 2 consultation and 70 face-to-face forums and meetings with students, employers, industry, staff and community and special interest groups. The independent Newspoll survey found that TAFE NSW is almost universally recognised, with 97 per cent of people aware of TAFE. Of those, 96 per cent say the services provided by TAFE NSW are valuable to the State; 94 per cent say TAFE services are valuable for business and industry; and 97 per cent believe TAFE is very important in providing apprentice training. Let’s talk about TAFE showed that TAFE NSW is deeply valued as a networked organisation with its state-wide footprint of Institutes; and plays a critical role in skills training across the State, especially in regional and rural areas, by providing a range of quality local training options, and an alternative to university. It also showed that while people in NSW understand and value the significant role TAFE plays, there is recognition that it must adapt to remain relevant and competitive in a changing environment. The full report of Let’s talk about TAFE was published on 28 August 2013 and can be downloaded from: www.tafensw.edu.au/about/ltat The TAFE Board has listened to these messages and is considering a range of governance reforms to ensure we develop our commercial and entrepreneurial capabilities to meet the many expectations of our customers and key stakeholders. TAFE NSW is working closely with TAFE staff to develop new approaches to training delivery as well as business reforms. Last year, following extensive consultation with staff and unions, TAFE NSW successfully negotiated a new Enterprise Agreement for teachers. This Agreement includes a trial of new flexible education support roles and opens up new possibilities in the way TAFE can deliver its services. Industry focus Through the Technical and Further Education Commission Act 1990 (NSW), TAFE NSW has statutory responsibilities to provide training for individuals and communities in support of the State’s economic and social development. A key role of TAFE NSW is to provide training for the occupations that drive the productivity and growth of New South Wales. This role was reinforced in the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Economic Development’s Skill Shortages in NSW1 report. Overall,… the evidence before the Committee recognised the central role of TAFE NSW as the leading provider of vocational education and training in NSW and that crucial to supporting the economic and social priorities of NSW and to meeting the expectations of the community for a skilled workforce, is that TAFE's priority should be delivering training in areas of skills demand (p.48). TAFE NSW prioritises the delivery of training to support growing industry areas with strong job prospects. In 2013, TAFE NSW had over 570,000 course enrolments 1 NSW Government, March 2014, as accessed at www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/economicdevelopment 3 across a range of diverse programs covering foundation level courses to Bachelor degrees. Over 105,000 enrolments were in skill shortage occupations such as electricians, childcare workers, enrolled nurses and plumbers. Over 226,000 of these enrolments were by students from regional and remote areas. In keeping with VET reforms in NSW, there has been a significant shift in enrolments to qualifications on the 2014 NSW Skills List to reflect the State’s changing skills priorities. From 2013 to 2014, there has been a 43 per cent (54,609 enrolments) increase in course enrolments in skills priority qualifications. Supporting local enterprise TAFE NSW offers unparalleled breadth and depth of training across its network of ten TAFE NSW Institutes. Each TAFE NSW Institute is embedded within its community, has extensive business and community partnerships and offers training and related services customised to the specific needs of the region including addressing specialist training requirements of regional and remote communities. For instance, TAFE Western’s Western Connect initiative uses mobile learning units, connected classrooms and online learning to provide training with very isolated and remote communities in the far west of the State and directly where the students live. Western Connect provides training in many areas including early childhood, nursing and health, heavy vehicle driving, conservation earthworks, and welding to students who would otherwise have missed out or had to travel significant distances. Over 3,200 students gained access to training in 2012 through Western Connect: 28 per cent of these students were Aboriginal and ten per cent had a disability. In 2013, Aboriginal students enrolling in Certificate III qualifications as part of the Western Connect initiative had the best completion ratio in Western TAFE. TAFE Western won a 2013 NSW Premier’s Award for Revitalising Regional NSW. TAFE NSW has also increased the delivery of work-based and flexible training to better meet the needs of employers and industry across all sectors. Since 2008, TAFE NSW delivery outside the classroom increased from 25 per cent to more than 45 per cent of all delivery.