An industry round-table has met in Melbourne to hash out new strategies to put trade vocational education and training (VET) front and centre. Assistant Education Minister Sussan Ley led the meeting in a campaign to raise the status of trades training and ensure that students pursuing manufacturing careers don’t feel like they’re on the ‘B team’.
The push follows announcements late last year that the Abbott government would slash funding for trades training centres in schools, a $400 million spending cut. 40 industry employer and education groups gathered on Thursday to discuss disparity between employer demands and the take-up of VET subjects in schools.
Speaking with the Financial Review, Ley said, “As a core principle, the VET in schools courses offered should be determined by workforce demand and skills needs. This is critical to ensure that more young people take up a trade career to ensure the future growth of the Australian economy.”
- Sussan Ley
Representatives from Printing Industries were not in attendance at the Melbourne meeting, however, PIAA CEO Bill Healey recently weighed in on areas impacting the printing industry at a similar event in Canberra discussing vocational education issues.
Healey told Print21, “We’re very supportive of it and with FuturePrint we already have a strategy to pursue in our sector and the funding to back it up. We’ve already flagged that there would be great value to us building a program linking print, communications and graphic design.”
A joint initiative between PIAA and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), FuturePrint is already gaining considerable traction with over 60 businesses on board and more than a dozen apprentices on site and training. According to Healey a key issue for the wider discussion is not fast-tracking qualifications, but a focus on delivering meaningful outcomes to give students options for further development.
“We look forward to working with Sussan to implement the changes she’s proposing. We’re in the fortunate position that we already have the FuturePrint program up and running, with funding in there to explore and implement options. We feel that the printing industry is an exciting and modern field for the next generation to discover, and there are many interesting opportunities for employment,” said Healey.