Page 2280 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2016
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final report of this review and the Education Directorate’s response tabled in the Assembly in September last year that gave voice to a number of the challenges facing the ACT and to the future directions the Education Directorate put forward as its roadmap to taking those challenges on.
In all, this covered seven directions for reform in a comprehensive and holistic approach to change in areas including systems, processes, infrastructure, policy, funding mechanisms, provision planning, communication framework, capability building and strategic partnerships. These directions were articulated under the four fundamental components of VET delivery set out in the national framework: clarity of purpose, collaboration between VET stakeholders, confidence in the quality of VET delivered to secondary students and the effective operation of core underpinning systems.
In February and again in June this year members of this Assembly also heard of the outcome of the Standing Committee on Education, Training and Youth Affairs Inquiry into vocational education and youth training in the ACT. This was an inquiry that, in many of its findings, reflected these same challenges that had come through strongly in the Education Directorate’s review. These were most strongly voiced in the submissions received by the committee and in the hearings it conducted with stakeholders, many of whom have been and continue to be active participants in the progress of the work described in the report I table here today.
Those challenges included the increasing rigour and burden of national compliance requirements for RTOs; the challenges of maintaining the industry skills of our teachers and trainers; the continued need for effective resource management within schools, both the human resources and physical training assets; the development of strategies to maintain genuine connections and involvement with industry; the imperative to achieving sustainable change and introducing innovation in our models of VET delivery; and the push to reduce unnecessary red tape and duplication of administrative processes across our schools.
These challenges are foremost in the minds of many in our education and training system—educators, school principals, policymakers, parents and students. This progress report speaks to a significant piece of work that commenced during the standing committee inquiry. It is work that responds to many of the sentiments of submissions the standing committee heard during the term of its inquiry. I am pleased to say in many cases it does this not in isolation from these stakeholders but jointly, as active participants in its implementation.
The work that was in its commencement just last year has come a long way now to addressing the concerns of stakeholders and building on the successes of a system eager to adapt to a future state and deliver on student outcomes. The report I table today marks a significant milestone in the progress of the Education Directorate’s review of VET for secondary students in ACT public schools.
I will now speak about the progress the government has made across the seven directions of reform. On collaboration, the Education Directorate set out to improve clarity and confidence for key stakeholders through clear articulation of the goals,
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