The delivery of trade training in NSW is about to undergo a massive shake-up.
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The new Smart and Skilled 2015 program will officially start on January 1 next year, with the program’s information system due for release at the end of this month.
Nearly 90 business and community leaders heard about the introduction of the new program during a breakfast presentation at the Muswellbrook Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).
Guest speakers included Institute Director of Hunter TAFE, Phil Cox; Program Manager for the OCHRE Opportunity Hub Aboriginal employment program, Rob Russell; and Mayor of Muswellbrook, Cr Martin Rush.
Regional Manager of State Training Services for the Hunter and Central Coast, Rebecca Anthony, told the gathering the changes are significant and they will impact employers and young people accessing the workforce.
“Productivity has been fairly stagnant and recent analysis has shown that we really do need to concentrate on increasing the productivity of our workforce.
“Smart and Skilled 2015 is a consumer-driven system dependent on an entitlement model so that every individual in the workforce, who does not have a higher level qualification, has an entitlement for training up to a Certificate Three level,” Ms Anthony said.
Rebecca Anthony says the NSW government is trying to turn around a system that has largely been driven by registered training organisations rather than by individuals trying to upskill.
“This is an attempt to look at a way of putting the individual and the employer at the forefront of the system,” she said.
The new system will include a Priority Skills List of subjects that will be publicly-funded by the government to support the regional and NSW economy.
Apprenticeships and traineeships will continue under Smart and Skilled 2015, with apprentice fees capped at $2,000 for the qualification.
There’s also a program called Targeted Priorities for higher level qualifications at Certificate Four level and above.
The new vocational training system will also place a much stronger emphasis on quality, with registered training organisations facing audits and sanctions if their programs don’t meet standards.
“We have some fantastic registered training organisations that deliver a wonderful service and who have high-quality standards.
“But, unfortunately, we also have some who don’t and probably we haven’t done enough about managing those ones who do not meet the quality standards we require,” Rebecca Anthony said.
Once the information system is up and running, students will be able to select their preferred registered training organisation and how they want to study.
“They might wish to do the qualification by face-to-face in the classroom or they may wish to do it individually in an eLearning environment.
“For example, you’ll be able to go into the information system and see that a particular registered training organisation is delivering a course in Scone, delivering it by eLearning and starting that course at a particular time,” Ms Anthony said.
Guests at the Chamber breakfast also heard about the OCHRE Opportunity Hub, a collaborative training program between the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the Department of Education and Communities.
Program Manager, Rob Russell, explained the program is working to engage Aboriginal students to have conversations with their parents about their career ideas so school becomes more relevant for them.
He urged employers at the Chamber breakfast to give school students some exposure to the workplace.
“High school students are in dire need of work experience opportunities because too many of them go into a job having no idea that the workplace is so very different to school.
“At the workplace you have to turn up on time every day; you have to be ready to work as soon as you get to work; you have to be properly dressed; you have to take instruction and you have to follow those instructions clearly without, as you might in school, giving a bit of back chat,” Mr Russell said.
Rob Russell told local employers they would benefit in the long-term if they give the kids a go.
“Just give a couple of students a week or so work experience to get them better attuned to what the workplace requires and, hopefully, they will become better employees for you,” he said.