Submission to the Ministry of Education: Redesign of the vocational education and training system
Executive Summary
Proposed further reform of Vocational Education and Training is an opportunity for New Zealand to make meaningful changes that set the system up to improve outcomes. It’s critical that we do not just return to old models or tweak a system that is currently not fit for purpose.
Our view is that Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) play a crucial role in the network of vocational training provision, which need to continue to provide learners with choice to meet their diverse needs. Healthy competition among providers also helps drive innovation and continuous improvement.
Our bottom line is that the vocational education system should be geared to meeting industry needs so that learners are best equipped for their vocational path, helping to drive productivity, rather than being inherently government facing.
In this context, we do not support Proposal 2A. We do support the general direction outlined in Proposal 2B, but do not believe it goes far enough to deliver meaningful outcomes. We propose two key enhancements to strengthen this:
Accountability for final sign-off on all standards to sit with respective industry peak bodies rather than with NZQA to ensure that standards-setting is truly industry-led; and
Introduction of new measures to incentivise more on-job apprenticeship training and to share the cost of that among all employers within industries, as well as encourage the development and uptake of ‘train the trainer’ opportunities and increasing the number of employers who train.
BCTF represents 18 trade members, their 12,000+ employer firms and around 25,000 learners. The views in this paper reflect the outcomes of a number of workshops that have been held with our members nationwide.
We appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback on the Vocational Education and Training Reform. Proposal and welcome the opportunity to be a part of further engagement moving forward.