The Vice-Chancellors of Australia’s six dual-sector universities are renewing calls for the federal, state and territory governments to reform the tertiary education system. They want recommendations laid out in a 2019 COAG review implemented to better integrate the higher education and vocational systems. The reforms are needed to better meet the needs of students and the changing world of work.
In 2019, the Australian government released the final report of The COAG Review of the Australian Qualifications Framework, which recognised that students need more flexibility in combining vocational and higher education to access skills and knowledge they need to be successful.
“Most of the jobs being created in Australia today require skills acquired through both the higher education and vocational systems,” says Professor Kristjanson, Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne University..
“Unfortunately, the fragmentation and complexity of the current systems of accreditation, funding and regulation are slowing us down and standing in the way of developing and growing more innovative, relevant tertiary education activities.”
“For dual-sector institutions like ours to deliver on workforce needs and offer a meaningful tertiary experience to students, transitions between higher and vocational education need to be as easy and logical as possible. If we don’t work together with governments to reshape our system, Australia risks being left behind.”
Read the full article from Swinburne University.
