This paper was presented to the 2011 TAFE Governance and Regulations Forum, 1 March 2011 in Melbourne. Tom Karmel argues that neither a simple definition of vocational education and training (VET) nor qualification levels are helpful. He suggests that VET is distinguished from higher education by different funding and regulatory arrangements, and teaching and learning styles. What confuses the issue is that many providers deliver both higher education and VET courses.
This paper was presented at the 2009 Economic and Social Outlook Conference, 5-6 November at the University of Melbourne. It takes a sceptical view of the push for 'green skills', arguing that skills required in the labour market evolve relatively slowly, and that the way business operates is driven by changing costs, new technologies and new regulations, with sustainability being only one of many factors.
This paper was presented to the KRIVET International conference on VET, in Seoul, Republic of Korea, during October 2002.