Carrot to lift TAFE standards

HIGHER standards for teaching, courses and student results will be demanded of the states.

HIGHER standards for teaching, courses and student results will be demanded of the states in return for an additional $1.75 billion to reform the country's vocational and educational training system.

The Gillard government will renegotiate a national partnership agreement through the Council of Australian Governments next year that will require the states to meet new benchmarks to get the existing $7bn funding on the table.

An extra $1.75bn over five years will be used as a reward for states prepared to "sign up to more ambitious reform" of their TAFE colleges.

These reforms include aligning training with the booming and new sectors of the economy that are experiencing skills shortages.

The federal government also wants the states to build more pathways for students from TAFE and deliver qualifications higher than a Certificate III level. Greater transparency and lifting the participation rates of disadvantaged learners and regional students are other conditions of the reforms.

The demand on states to improve their performance in training comes after years of criticism of the TAFE system and as demand increases because of skills shortages and the mining boom.

The Productivity Commission found "serious shortfalls" in vocational education, including lack of proper qualifications in up to 40 per cent of TAFE teachers.

Advisory body Skills Australia last week recommended sweeping reform of the VET after concluding that it was not "realising its full potential" and it was crucial to the country's future prosperity from the resources boom.

The federal budget papers state the VET system "needs to be more productive and high performing".

"Currently around 1.7 million Australians study in public VET each year, but fewer than 30 per cent complete their course," it reads. "The new National Partnership will provide $1.75 billion over five years from 2012-2013 . . . to promote reforms that will lead to a more transparent VET system that delivers higher-level qualifications, better recognition of skills, and which better caters to disadvantaged learners and regions."

The government will consult with states and industry "about the principles and the structure" that will underpin the new agreement.

Skills Minister Chris Evans said the VET system must be able to respond to demand for skilled workers.

"The challenge now is to work with the states and territories through the COAG process to introduce fundamental reforms to create a modern national training system," he said.

"Building a productive and high performing public training system is fundamental if Australia is to achieve a globally competitive edge."