The Gillard Government today released new proposals to raise the quality of vocational education and training across the country.
The Government has put $1.75 billion on the table to work with the states and territories to deliver on reforms to the VET system over the next 5 years.
Key measures in the offer to the states and territories include:
* Working with the states and territories to ensure courses delivered by the VET sector are subject to independent quality assessment.
* States and territories will be required to implement these independent checks over the next two years.
* States and territories will have to set strict criteria to ensure only quality providers with an established record can access public funding.
* States and territories will be required to provide strategies that will continue to support and strengthen the public providers of vocational education and training (TAFE) over the next five years.
* Each state and territory will be required to implement strategies to improve the quality of VET teaching.
Students training for a job deserve the best possible education.
With high skilled jobs increasing at 2.5 times the rate of other jobs and some 4.1 million Australians not having post-school qualifications, the nation may face a significant shortfall of suitably skilled workers in coming years.
The Government is determined to remove the barriers preventing Australians from accessing further training, but we will not let this come at the cost of quality.
These reforms that will make it possible for more Australians to obtain the high quality skills they need.
The offer of $1.75 billion is in addition to the $7.2 billion the Government will made available to the states and territories over the next five years for the VET system.