The Australian Skills Quality Authority has decided who needs to know what when will change. The authority announces that after October, its now monthly update will become a quarterly, “which shares important information about our work and regulatory practice and trends and changes impacting the sector.” Providers will receive a monthly “Lens,” “with information and guidance specific to provider obligations and continuous improvement.” Whatever the agency’s intent, as a way to ensure rumour and speculation in the four weeks between updates this will be hard to beat.
Murdoch U announces three research centres, covering “widespread Indigenous health and social equity challenges,” Yorga Centre: “culturally secure health and social service systems.” Yarwadani Centre: “culturally secure mental health services.” Coolamon Centre: “widespread and cumulative effects of climate change, and the social, cultural and environmental factors impacting the lives of Aboriginal people.”
The way TEQSA deals with allegations of sexual violence at universities is on education ministers agenda. It follows a scathing assessment of the agency’s performance by a Senate committee which found the agency “ill-equipped and failing to effectively enforce” safety standards (Future Campus, HERE). The agency has always stated it “does not have a role in addressing individual complainants’ request or grievances” but it also “accepts complaints about higher education providers’ compliance with the legislation we administer.” Last week Education Minister Jason Clare acknowledged the dilemma, “Should TEQSA be about the investigation and responding to individual student complaints, or should it be about the regulation of universities? At the moment, it’s got both. But should that be the responsibility of a separate entity?” Ministers will hear advice today.
La Trobe U announces an Indigenous Strategy, including a Council of Elders to “provide strategic and cultural advice on a range of matters” including on Indigenous access, participation and success and an Indigenous Research Framework, (“guidance and principles on conducting collaborative research”).
Jobs and Skills Australia releases its first annual report, Towards a Jobs and Skills Roadmap, which for HE include extensive reporting of the Universities Accord Interim Report and the Employment White Paper. And it sets out what is looking more and more like a future for universities as agents of the government’s jobs agenda.
“A more connected VET and higher education system should enhance the ability of students to navigate the education and training system to obtain the knowledge, skills and capabilities they need to successfully participate in the labour market
It should promote access to high quality tertiary education – where students are able to study at a world class provider regardless of qualification type
It should also encourage education and training providers, industry and employers to collaborate on designing curriculum and training programs that ensure leaders develop knowledge and skills that are needed by the Australian economy”
No agency of the state is questioning the autonomy of universities – but what the government expect from them as engines of employment is pretty clear.
The government wants universities to provide more study support for students and packaged a requirement in a Bill which sailed through the Reps. But on August 10 the Senate sent it to committee -where unis made cases against it, ranging from the strong to the scathing (have a look at Uni Sydney’s submission). The committee was supposed to report on September 13, but two days prior asked for an extension to the 27th – on which date it asked for another, until October 11.
Opposition senators uncharitably suggest the government did not do “the requisite work required” before introducing the Bill.
Unless the delay is due to today’s meeting of state and federal education ministers, where other HE issues that may need legislating (TEQSA’s role in oversighting safety on campus, say) might come up.
Buried in the huge TAFE to-do list in last week’s Employment White Paper there is a question about who is to do the doing – 27 per cent of public sector VET teachers are over 60.
The government has rolled out responses, notably for international education, in the not officially released but widely read Nixon Review of the visa system. Ms Nixon urged government to consider regulating education agents and strengthen regulation of providers. And so, ministers announced Monday,
* monitoring of providers and students studying
* strengthening oversight of providers and student attendance
* banning commissions on student transfers in Australia. This is presumably to support changes announced in August, to stop education agents helping student visa holders here for employment not study, switching enrolments from initial quality providers to others that teach less and more provide cover while so-called students work.
To which Opposition education shadow Sarah Henderson responded, “Labor is dripping out announcements over the course of a week to cover for their lack action and to distract from their mishandling of the Voice referendum.”
On Tuesday Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor added, that ASQA will have $37.5m more for an integrity unit, “to enable a compliance blitz on unlawful behaviour, targeting non genuine providers who may be exploiting international students.”
Back in May ASQA head Saxon Rice provided a sense of what this might look like, when she announced the agency was working with “partner agencies,” on Operation Inglenook, including “site visits” “to take appropriate regulatory activities,” which sounds rather like raids (Campus Morning Mail May 8).
International graduates who stay in Australia on temporary visas ”struggle” to find work in their chosen careers and a third return to study, typically in VET, “suggesting that the visa is not acting as a stepping stone to full-time work in their chosen profession, according to a new Grattan Institute report.
“International graduates struggle in the Australian labour market for a number of reasons, including: employers’ reluctance to hire temporary visa-holders; graduates’ often-poor English language skills and weaker networks; and discrimination,” Brendan Coates, Trent Wiltshire and Tyler Reysenbach state.
“Graduates may be motivated by the hope of securing permanent residency, or simply to continue to access the higher wages offered in Australia. Either way, they are returning to study a degree that is unlikely to boost their lifetime income or career prospects.”
The Grattan Three propose a redesign of the temporary graduate visa to targe people, “who are good prospects for permanent residency,” including:
visa duration: * bachelor degrees (unchanged at two years) * coursework masters (two Y instead of three) * research masters (stays three Y) * PhD: four Y down from six Y)
target extensions at good prospects: * remove study/work extensions for regions * remove extensions for degrees related to occupation shortage * extensions for grads in high-wage jobs
tighten eligibility: * reduce qualifying age from 50 to 35 * lift English language requirement from IELTS six to 6.5
