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Current destination surveys of vocational education and training (VET)
students in Australia
tend to focus on course and module completers1.There
is no regular national follow-up of students who drop out of VET programs without
recording any educational achievement. Furthermore, there is little follow-up
information on apprentices and trainees and where they
end up in the longer term.
- Finding out about students who drop out of VET with no recorded
achievement would be useful in developing strategies to reduce this
occurrence.
Considering all the methodological options, the author suggests
a two-pronged approach, whereby administrative data on student enrolments
are analysed
regularly to indicate the size and broad dimension of student noncompletions.
A survey of non-completers is also undertaken every three years
to determine the reasons for, and behavioural factors leading to withdrawal
and non-completion.
- A longitudinal survey of apprentices and trainees is also useful
for providing data to help us to better understand the long-term impact
of a contracted training approach on career paths and earnings. The
author recommends the Canadian National Apprenticed Trades Survey
as
providing a good working model for such an approach. The survey should
be based on a sample of completers and non-completers of apprenticeship
and traineeship programs determined through administrative data analysis.
1 Those who successfully complete all or part of a course and then
leave the VET system.
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