Aligning vocational and higher education will generate the combination of skills and knowledge that workers will need to be successful in the job market, according to the latest report from Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA).
The JSA report, Opportunity and Productivity: Towards a Tertiary Harmonisation Roadmap, makes 19 recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our tertiary education sector and better meet Australia’s workforce requirements.
“Improving coordination and cooperation – or ‘harmonisation’ – of the tertiary education sectors will fuel Australia’s productivity, address skill shortages and achieve economic benefits by better matching skill supply with skill demand,” said JSA Commissioner, Professor Barney Glover.
Industries need new combinations of skills and knowledge from school leavers and those reskilling and upskilling. Tertiary harmonisation will result in a more flexible and adaptive tertiary system that is better placed to respond to changing industry needs.
“A harmonised system will provide a much-needed workforce for emerging occupations, greatly benefiting the jobs of the future such as care work, clean energy and digital transformation,” said Professor Glover.
JSA’s recommendations include mechanisms to encourage innovative course design and the creation of a national credit transfer system.
The report also identifies some of the barriers to harmonisation, including different governmental and regulatory requirements, and differences in curriculum and qualification frameworks.
However, Professor Glover was clear that overcoming these barriers is not about merging or integrating the university and vocational education sectors.
“Tertiary harmonisation is about creating better connections between the education sectors whilst retaining their distinctiveness and independence,” said Professor Glover.
“The VET and university sectors will need to work together as equal education pathways for tertiary harmonisation to be successful.”
The report is available now from jobsandskills.gov.au.
Media contact: media@jobsandskills.gov.au
