Page 2123 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 2 August 2016
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I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Education, Training and Youth Affairs—Standing Committee
Reports 5 and 6—government responses
MS FITZHARRIS (Molonglo—Minister for Higher Education, Training and Research, Minister for Transport Canberra and City Services and Assistant Minister for Health): For the information of members, I present the following paper: (3.45):
Education, Training and Youth Affairs—Standing Committee—Reports 5 and 6—Inquiry into Vocational Education and Youth Training in the ACT—Interim Report and Final Report—Government response.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
I am pleased today to table the government’s response to the standing committee’s report on the inquiry into vocational education and youth training in the ACT. I think we can all agree that the inquiry became a mammoth task, taking over three years, with seven public hearings and more than a dozen submissions. While perhaps not ideal that it should take so long, it is at least understandable when you consider the breadth, depth and complexity of vocational education and training, not just in the ACT but Australia-wide.
Across the country it is an education system undergoing fundamental and huge reforms. This inquiry was well timed to examine these changes and how we can improve our vocational system in the ACT to benefit Canberrans. While there were broad terms of reference covering the entire gamut of VET activity in the ACT, the committee took a strong interest in the recent collapse of an electrotechnology training provider and the transfer of 270 electrotechnology students to the Canberra Institute of Technology.
As we will all appreciate, the sudden withdrawal of a large provider of training had a significant impact on the sector, these students and their employers. The education and training directorate at the time needed to find an alternative provider for these students and turned to CIT. CIT agreed to take on this task and almost overnight near doubled its student numbers in electrotechnology. Each student’s prior learning needed to be established and individual learning plans agreed.
CIT rose to this task and ensured that students had their previous training appropriately recognised and were provided gap training where needed, and supported students to continue their training to achieve their qualification. The effectiveness of CIT’s response to this crisis is evidenced by the fact that the ACT electrical industry regulator has at no point raised any concerns about the quality of CIT electrotechnology graduates.
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