Research Forum excitement

Six years ago the ITF held its first Vocational Education and Training Research Forum with about 30 people who gathered for an afternoon.  I was therefore somewhat overwhelmed to welcome around 200 people to a two-day event last week which has become a major forum for those with an interest in vocational education and training. 

What I love about this forum is that it doesn't just attract researchers, it attracts practitioners interested in using the research to improve vocational education and training.  We were treated to two-days of quality presentations that were thought-provoking and useful.  I was particularly proud of the number of ITO-based research projects that are helping to inform practice across the whole sector.  We are now looking forward to our annual conference on 28-29 July where we will be striving to match the buzz created last week. 

In the next few issues of Real Skills we will be reporting more on some of the speakers at the forum.  In the meantime, copies of the presentations and photos are posted on our website.

Jeremy Baker

Executive Director, Industry Training Federation

Recession support for trainees

Minister for Tertiary Education Hon Anne Tolley used her opening address at the forum to announce that the Government has agreed to one of our job summit suggestions.

The Minister said the Government had agreed to an extension of support for apprentices and industry trainees made redundant as a result of the current recession. It means industry trainees can remain in their training agreements for 12 weeks following termination of their employment – up from the current 6 week cut off.

‘It will enable Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) to work closely with their apprentices and trainees for longer. It’s crucial that trainees, employers and the taxpayer do not lose the training investment they’ve already made,” ITF Executive Director Jeremy Baker said.

“We need people to complete the qualifications they’ve started and keep these skills in the economy,’ he said.
 

Beyond the data

New data on industry training and modern apprenticeships released by the Ministry of Education has created a small whirl of excitement but if you take the time to have more than a perfunctory glance at the reports, there is good news for industry training.

They show that completion rates for trainees were comparable to those in equivalent polytechnic courses despite some quirks in the system that work against industry training, including the significantly lower level of funding. For example, when a trainee leaves their job for another job, they are classified as a ‘non-completion’ even when they finish their qualification in another workplace.  Furthermore, the data reveals that in addition to qualifications completion, more than two-thirds of industry trainees attain a siignificant number of industry skill standards which are directly relevant to their work.  Read the ITF's media statement

Of course we know that there is room for improvement in completion rates, and ITOs have already been tackling this, but we also need a more robust data collection process to examine the reasons for non-completion. The Australians are ahead of us on this one, showing that a large majority of non-completions in industry training qualifications are for reasons linked directly to their employment. It is likely to be similar in New Zealand and we need to push for the collation of that information.
 

ESITO commits extra funding for training

More news on how ITOs are responding to help their industries through the recesssion with the recent announcement that the board of the Electricity Supply Industry Training Organisations (ESITO) has committed an extra $1 million this year to help employers in the electricity supply industry continue to invest in work-based training for their staff.

In his media statement, ESITO Chief Executive Officer Tim Densem said the board believed it was important to encourage and support industry training through these tight financial times and could act now because of its financial prudence in good times.

In-house training research project

The Social Services ITO is looking at ways to recognise the inhouse training that social services offer their staff and volunteers.

Project manager, Jac Lynch said this recognition could potentially help hundreds of workers on the path to national qualifications. Fourteen organisations, including two iwi social services and one government agency, are participating in the study. The organisations have had their training mapped against unit standards.  They are currently developing their training systems following review visits by teams of ITO staff and peers.

“The shared learning about different models of training is an early positive outcome for the participants,” Ms Lynch said.  A report on the study is due in July.