Using Australia as an example, this paper shows that globalisation poses distinct challenges for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems as nations adjust to their areas of comparative advantage. Other challenges that are less often taken into account are the internationalisation of training markets and the entry and exit of skills embodied in people due to migration flows.
Australia's technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system is highly reliant on individual workers and firms making decisions about whether and how to participate in skill formation. For effective workforce development to occur, sophisticated labour market information systems are required to provide signals to workers and firms so they can make optimal choices. This also allows governments to monitor and evaluate labour market policies and programs. This paper describes the role that NCVER plays in this process.
Using survey results of student outcomes in 2002 and a follow-up survey of these people in 2004, it is possible to show longer-term improvements for 15-24 year olds who completed TAFE training in 2001. The aim of this paper, presented to the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association conference on 21 April 2006, is to examine the longer-term outcomes from TAFE training, including shifts in employment from prior to training to six months after training and a few years after training. It concludes that many gains can be achieved from undertaking training in the VET sector and these gains improve over time.
Presented to the Second Sino-Australia Vocational Education and Training Conference at Chongqing on 3-5 August, 2005, this paper looks at linkages between the Australian vocational education and training system and the labour market--the formal legal and administrative structures, general skills development, and the dynamics of the labour market.