One month to register for NCVER's National Conference!
Don’t miss your opportunity to join us at the 25th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference ‘No Frills’ from 4 - 6 July at CQUniversity in Rockhampton, Queensland.
The conference kicks off with optional professional development workshops, followed by two days of conference presentations including two keynotes - Linda Brown, CEO at Think Education and Jodi Schmidt, CEO at TAFE Queensland. The conference program highlights research across the themes of equity, engagement and evolution of VET, featuring presentations such as:
- Special vocation? How Indigenous people’s caring responsibilities predict their subsequent participation in vocational education and attainment of qualifications, Heather Crawford, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University
- Re-defining the future for the deaf through accredited training: creating equity and inclusion, Vanessa Solomon, Deaf Services Qld
- Balancing consistency and flexibility in student training entitlements, Kaye Bowman & Suzy McKenna, Kaye Bowman Consulting
Prices start at $140 for conference registration, and bookings are essential. Register online now to secure your place.
Australia’s major VET student survey expands
This year, for the first time, Australia’s major survey of students for rating the nation’s vocational education and training (VET) system has expanded to include students who pay their own way with private training providers. Over the coming weeks around 220 000 students will be asked about their recent training experience. The annual national Student Outcomes Survey provides information on employment outcomes, training satisfaction, and the benefits and relevance of training.
Results from this survey will be available on NCVER’s Portal in late 2016. For further information about the survey visit our FAQ page.
Return on Investment in TVET
NCVER recently moderated the largest recorded UNESCO-UNEVOC virtual conference on return on investment in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). The conference informed the wider TVET community about a collaborative research project on ROI in TVET and was an opportunity for the community to share their ideas, expertise and experiences with the research team. Some key messages from the conference included:
- Information on ROI is a valuable tool to convince stakeholders to invest in TVET.
- The objectives of the TVET system in a country should inform the way ROI is collected and interpreted. However, economic outcomes of TVET (e.g. employment-related outcomes) are seen as being critically important.
- Social aspects are also very important, and tie into the objectives of the systems, but these social measures are often indirectly linked to the economic ones.
- The diversity of TVET systems and contexts pose considerable challenges for cross-country comparisons of ROI.
For more information on the UNESCO-UNEVOC virtual conference
Expansion of the VOCEDplus Pod Network
The VOCEDplus Pod Network is an online resource aimed at providing easy access to quality, theme-based research. NCVER research, events, new publications, and links to VOCEDplus searches on topical or key issues are presented in pages called Pods. In May, the Pod Network has expanded with the release of the following:
Stay tuned for the release of more Pods over the next two months on:
- Migration
- Sustainability
- Equity
- Students
To find out when they are available, follow @VOCEDplus on Twitter.