VET courses at school aren’t leading to related jobs, Business SA warns

Tens of thousands of students are doing a VET course in their high schooling – but only a tiny percentage of them actually want a full-time job doing the same thing.

• Massive SA jobs drive

Fewer than one in 20 school students doing vocational education courses tell visiting Business SA officials they want to pursue a related career.

In its submission to a State Government review of VET in schools, the peak lobby group says students who would otherwise drop out are being “actively encouraged to pursue VET courses that do not interest them, in order to complete a satisfactory level of schooling”.

It says using VET as a retention method “should not be stopped or discouraged”, but course offerings and choices must be aligned with students’ career aspirations and “good regional job prospects”.

Business SA’s Apprenticeship Support Australia representatives give talks to students doing certificate-level VET courses as part of their school curriculum, encouraging them to take on apprenticeships.

“When students are asked about their interest in moving to a career in the areas of the course, less than 5 per cent indicate an interest,” the submission states.

It says 10,000 school students did VET courses or subjects as part of their high schooling in 2017. There were also 1000 school-based apprentices or trainees. They are much more likely to be career-focused as they have to commit to part-time employment directly related to their VET course.

The submission says school-based apprentice and trainee numbers must rise.

Only 5 per cent of surveyed students say they want to make a career our of their VET course.

It says changing parents’ perceptions of VET is critical, as is expanding the P-Tech model used at St Patrick’s Technical College of building long-term partnerships between schools, industry and tertiary education providers.

The Catholic school has key partnerships leading to defence jobs in engineering, electrotechnology and IT.

Such partnerships must be developed in public schools and should be used to influence student perceptions of VET as early as Year 7, the submission says.

Cutting red tape is another focus area. “Businesses require a streamlined and supported process … The delay of engaging an apprentice results in difficulty for workforce planning and scheduling,” it says. Education Minister John Gardner said demand for VET-related jobs was growing.

“As part of our response to this review, we aim to ensure that VET pathways will be better linked to industry and job outcomes, and that school students will have increasing opportunities to commence a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship,” he said. “We need to ensure that VET is not just being used to achieve SACE completion alone.”