Linkages between secondary and post-secondary vocational education and training in China and Australia

This report describes the major features of the VET sectors of China and Australia, with a particular emphasis on the linkages between lower and higher VET. In the Australian VET sector these linkages refer to training taking place within the secondary education and post-secondary education sectors. In China these linkages refer to vocational education and training taking place within junior secondary schools, senior secondary schools and higher institutions of vocational education.

Brief overview of education sectors

Formal education in China occurs in four major sectors. These are pre-school education, primary education, secondary education and higher education sectors. Vocational education consists of school-based VET leading to academic credentials and vocational training leading to professional qualification certificates and training certificates.

Secondary or lower VET takes place in vocational junior high schools, general secondary specialised schools, vocational senior high schools, skilled workers' schools, comprehensive senior high schools and adult specialised secondary schools. Secondary vocational training for non-academic credentials education is delivered through apprenticeships or training programs run by training agencies and via programs run jointly between schools and enterprises and government and non-government organisations. This training includes on-the-job training, job-transfer training and continuing education. On completion of training programs trainees are issued with training certificates. They may also apply to be assessed for skill grade certificates, professional qualification certificates, or licences to perform specific operations or conduct businesses (for example electrician's licence, accountant's licence etc.).

Higher VET takes place in vocational and technical institutes, institutes of technology or higher skilled workers' schools, VET teacher training colleges and within enterprises or other agencies conducting training for senior level professional positions, in-service training, continuing education, preparation for examinations for professional certificates of skill grades certificates.

Formal education in Australia also takes place in four major sectors. In Australia, however, these are the schools sector, the VET sector, higher education and the adult and community education (ACE) sector. Vocational education and training takes place within the VET sector. The VET sector encompasses schools which conduct VET-in-schools programs generally available to students in the final two years of secondary schooling, enterprises and public and private post-school VET institutions. Increasingly, VET programs are also being delivered by the adult and community education sector.

Linking secondary and post-secondary VET

During the last decade Australia and China have implemented reforms to their VET sectors designed to develop a pool of labour force skills that will enable both countries to operate in new globalised markets. Both countries have implemented strategies to enable individuals to move easily between the different training pathways to ensure greater engagement with lifelong learning.

Australia

Any examination of the linkages between school and post-school VET programs in Australia must take account of the fact that students may undertake and complete Certificates I, II or III while still at school. They may also undertake Certificates I, II and III, diplomas and advanced diplomas once they have left school. There are also collaborative arrangements between registered training providers and universities that enable students to commence a course of study which allows them to gain VET qualifications within the VET sector and progress into university degree programs either on completion of, or during, their VET programs. For this reason, it makes more sense to speak about the role of the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and industry training packages in integrating lower-level AQF studies with studies which occur at the higher AQF levels.

Under the AQF, individuals are able to begin at the level most suited to them and then build up their qualifications as needs change. In providing opportunities for individuals to obtain credit and recognition for skills and knowledge already acquired, the framework allows individuals to engage in relevant learning and limits the repetition of already developed skills and knowledge.

The Australian VET system is based on a competency-based approach to training and assessment, where industry or enterprise-specific competencies and standards are identified by industries and enterprises and endorsed by the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA). A system of qualifications, the Australian Qualifications Framework, has established the different levels of qualifications that can be achieved by the completion of units of competency identified in the training packages. A system of registration for public and private training providers wishing to deliver accredited training and/or assessment leading to qualifications under the Australian Qualifications Framework is also in place. A formal system of quality assurance helps to ensure that these providers have the required expertise, experience and facilities to become registered training organisations for a particular field and to maintain this status. The Australian Recognition Framework also provides a mechanism for individuals to have their qualifications recognised throughout the country.

The industry or enterprise training packages provide an easy method for individuals to identify units of competency which will help them gain the skills and knowledge they require for accessing and maintaining employment in particular industry sectors or enterprises. Because the training packages also align competency standards to qualifications in the Australian Qualifications Framework they provide a 'road map' for the qualifications available within the specific industry sector. However, there are a number of problem areas in relation to the development of the training package and to the implementation of the national policies for the recognition of qualifications.

If care has been applied in the identification of the competency standards and in the alignment of these to progressively higher qualifications, then there is less likelihood that there will be much repetition for students as they move from lower AQF levels to higher AQF levels. However, if registered training organisations establish prerequisites for acquiring qualifications which are different from the prerequisites established by other registered training organisations for achieving certain qualifications, then students may experience difficulties as they attempt to have their prior learning and previous qualifications recognised when enrolling in higher-level qualifications. This is sometimes an issue for students as they move from school-based VET to post-school VET.

It is true that the implementation of the industry and enterprise training packages has helped to provide an approach to acquiring nationally consistent qualifications or part qualifications. However, the system is still experiencing problems which will need to be resolved as each of the training packages comes up for re-endorsement every three years.

China

Although the Chinese VET system has no overarching framework like the AQF, or national system for identifying competency standards, the Chinese government has nevertheless implemented reforms aimed at guiding the development of linkages between lower and higher VET. The establishment of common training goals and standards, streamlining of specialised study fields, development of common curriculum, unification of different schooling systems and the establishment of continuous pathways are the major mechanisms that have been identified for developing effective linkages between secondary VET and what is referred to as higher VET. In addition, pathways based on entrance examinations, credit points conversion and recognition of prior qualifications have been established to provide opportunities for students to move between secondary and tertiary VET. The implementation of many of these linkages is still at the preliminary or experimental stage.

VET reforms in China have been launched in policies and regulations for the reform and development of both general and vocational education. They provide guidelines for the development of a labour force with the intermediate and higher-level technical and professional skills required for the production of goods, provision of services, construction of facilities, management of staff and processes, and installation, maintenance and operation of information technology and telecommunications. The secondary VET or lower VET sector is responsible for preparing workers to take up positions requiring intermediate level skills, while the higher VET sector is responsible for preparing specialists to take up positions requiring higher-level or advanced skills. The higher VET sector is also responsible for providing programs which allow students to develop the moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic qualities that indicate a well-rounded and educated person.

Because the guidelines only provide general advice for the development of linkages between secondary and higher VET rather than definitions of specific training goals for each sector, local areas have tended to approach the implementation of linkages between lower and higher VET according to their own needs and timelines. This flexibility and lack of specific definitions and expectations have delayed the establishment of effective linkages between the two sectors in many areas. This means that, more often than not, and particularly in specialised courses, students moving into higher VET will experience repetition of subject matter. It also means that, at times, advanced skills may be introduced in lower VET before basic skills have been acquired. However, the most effective linkages have been possible within the general courses that VET students undertake in lower and higher VET.

Curriculum-based linkages or their equivalents

In Australia the training packages help to provide a mechanism for avoiding, to some extent, the repetition of knowledge and skill that has already been gained at lower AQF levels. Although there have been a number of pilot programs to develop linkages in terms of curriculum between the lower and higher VET sectors in China, implementation of effective curriculum linkages between the two sectors is still not widespread. Curriculum-based linkages are generally evident in places where secondary and higher VET schools work in collaboration to provide vocational training. This is especially true for the '3+2' model where students spend the first three years in secondary VET schools and the last two years in tertiary or higher VET institutions. Curriculum linkages are also better implemented in the '5-year through' programs. Although there is no distinct division between stages in these '5-year through' programs, students will spend typically the first three years in secondary VET programs and the last two years in higher VET programs. This model facilitates collaboration between teachers in the planning of the curriculum so that repetition of subject matter is avoided and skill development occurs in proper sequence.

China has also removed what was considered to be the 'dead-end' nature of its secondary VET sector and allows graduates from secondary VET schools to take entrance examinations to further their studies in higher VET institutes. Today graduates from secondary VET may take examinations to enter specialised training courses or undergraduate courses in higher specialised VET institutes. Students who successfully complete their programs are awarded the higher VET certificate of specialised training or the higher VET undergraduate studies certificate. Undergraduate students who also pass English language examinations are issued with a bachelor's degree.

It is also possible for higher VET students, students of higher specialised institutes and adult specialised institutes to be selected for undergraduate courses of universities. This helps to maintain and raise student motivation and also improves the qualification levels of practical technical personnel. The creation of a pathway for individuals to move from higher VET into university programs rather than directly into the labour market has also helped to reduce unemployment pressures which are being generally experienced in the skilled professions.

There are now linkages being developed between undergraduate courses in higher VET and postgraduate university courses, comprehensive senior high schools and higher VET institutions, and secondary VET schools and adult education institutions.

In Australia the development of articulation pathways, generally operating through credit transfer and recognition of prior learning, has also helped to extend the opportunities for VET students to engage in higher-level studies and to move between program areas.

Recognition of prior learning and credit transfer

Both countries have implemented assessment systems that provide for the formal recognition of prior learning, qualifications and work experience. In Australia these options are available for students pursuing VET qualifications under the AQF. Students wishing to be considered for recognition of prior achievements are able to demonstrate their competency or acquired knowledge to qualified assessors in a variety of ways. They may undertake skill recognition assessments to demonstrate their current competency, or provide evidence to support the suitability of their requests for recognition. This evidence may include: letters of validation from employers, references, records of past academic results and/or certificates, school reports, original documents, relevant work samples, completed work outlines of courses undertaken. Students may also be asked to attend an interview to present their claims. Students need not repeat identical modules or units of competency completed at another registered training organisation. Generally this means that they have acquired advanced standing or been able to transfer credits completed in a prior course. This is generally automatic when arrangements for credit transfer have been formally established between institutions from the different sectors.

China has also begun to implement a system for the recognition of prior learning and experience. They have called this the credit points system, where points are given for the successful completion of different courses in terms of the number of credit hours that apply to different courses. Still in the early stages of implementation, the credit points system is experiencing some problems, which relate to the difficulty of achieving uniformity of recognition for similar or comparable subjects or courses undertaken at different schools or institutions. Nevertheless, a system of applying the same number of credit points to the same type of certificate is presently been trialled. In these trials, different higher VET institutions will allocate the same number of credit points to certificates awarded by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security or Ministry of Education.

Length of time spent in training

In China the most obvious form of linkage established between lower and higher VET is based on the length of time students spend in secondary institutions or lower VET before they progress to higher VET. There are various ways that the time spent in the sectors has been divided. For example, in the '2+3' model students spend two years in lower VET and three years in higher VET. In the '3+3' model they spend equal amounts of time in both sectors, and in the '4+2' model students spend four years in lower VET and half that amount of time in higher VET. In the '5-year through' model there are no definite distinctions between the stages for lower and higher VET but typically students will spend the first three years in secondary VET programs and the last two years in higher VET programs.

In Australia, courses leading to qualifications based on the achievement of competencies are also described in terms of nominal hours. However, the length of time to be spent in programs is increasingly becoming less important as a way of moving from lower- to higher-level VET programs. This is because competencies identified for lower- and higher-level VET qualifications can be achieved by individuals in varying amounts of time and at their own pace. However, different institutions have placed some restrictions on the amount of time that individuals may take to complete modules within their programs. Nevertheless, defining the length of time to be spent in training continues to be an important means for ensuring that apprentices spend sufficient amounts of time in training before they acquire full tradesperson status. This amount of time is generally defined by unions in industrial agreements. Even though apprentices may accelerate the time to be spent in formal off-the-job training, in general, most trades expect that apprentices will spend prescribed amounts of time before they complete their contracts of training and become fully qualified tradespersons.

Perceived benefits

In both China and Australia the major aims for introducing increased choice for individuals in relation to how, when and where they undertake training, are improvement of vocational skills, creation of employment and re-training opportunities, and development of a system for facilitating lifelong learning. For example, formerly when students entered a secondary VET program in China they could only become intermediate-level skilled workers and had no opportunities for upgrading their skills or qualifications. This tended to reduce the interest of students for entering secondary VET. Today a 'fly-over' strategy has been created to enable students to move more easily between all the sectors. This 'fly-over' refers to the creation of linkages between lower VET and higher VET, and between VET and other general tertiary education sectors. As such it also provides a mechanism for the survival of lower or secondary VET.

The Australian system with its emphasis on competency-based training and assessment, and flexible pathways, has facilitated the development of effective linkages between lower and higher VET, and between general and vocational education. It has allowed individuals to move in and out of the training system in order to take up employment opportunities as they become available and to undertake re-skilling activities as the nature of employment changes.

In giving industry the responsibility for developing the training packages and encouraging enterprises to collaborate with training providers in the provision of on-the-job training and experience for students, the Australian system ensures that VET has relevance and currency.

Concerns

It must be kept in mind that change, whether it be in China or Australia, may not always be automatically implemented or implemented according to the envisaged time-lines or desired goals. This is often because it takes time for people to accept the need for the change and subsequently to alter their behaviour to ensure that the change is implemented as required. In addition, change may also have consequences not anticipated by those who have designed the change.

The Chinese VET sector comprises far greater numbers of students, schools, other educational institutions and agencies than the Australian VET sector. For this reason the implementation of reforms with regard to establishing linkages between the sectors will take considerable time. Furthermore, access to government funding is also restricted by the need for governments to allocate resources to economic and social development. However, for effective linkages between lower and higher-level VET to become a reality, both the Chinese and Australian Governments need to continue their in-kind and financial support for implementation of change.

Although the training packages are effective in describing the workplace competencies required by industry, they do not provide sufficient guidance for the training of students who are not in work, or who have had no previous experience of work. In addition, there are still instances where previously completed modules in school-based VET have not been fully recognised by post-school VET institutions.

The Australian VET system relies on industry taking the lead role and responsibility for describing the competencies that will be required for particular industry sectors. As such, it is dependent on how accurately industry has read the environment in which it operates, and on the ability and diligence of those responsible for formally developing industry or enterprise training packages.

The way ahead

The Chinese and Australian VET systems both aim to develop skilled and flexible workers for economies which are becoming increasingly knowledge-based and globalised. A secondary objective is the provision of access to lifelong education through the opening up and linking of pathways between the various sectors of VET and between VET sectors and higher education. The speed with which these aims will be achieved for both countries will depend on the extent to which national and provincial governments in both countries provide sound administrative and fiscal environments and support to facilitate the implementation of training reform aimed at opening up pathways.

Both countries have paid a great deal of attention to developing flexible training pathways through the creation of effective linkages between higher and lower VET and have made substantial progress. However, more needs to be done in Australia and China to ensure an integrated approach to the development of training goals, curriculum and/or competency standards, so that unnecessary repetition of knowledge or competencies already acquired is avoided. It is evident that both countries have approached this problem in their own unique ways and both can learn from the diverse approaches applied by the other to solving similar problems. Nevertheless, it is important for both countries to continue to search for the best methods for developing pathways which will allow individuals to build on previous qualifications as their circumstances change. These include:

• allocating human, material and financial resources to support the creation and further development of these linkages
• developing closer ties with industry so that training is current, relevant and of a high quality
• improving quality assurance mechanisms to ensure that those charged with delivering the qualifications and the training abide by policies aimed at maintaining a quality VET system
• providing access to new technologies so that individuals are prepared for the skills they require in a changing work environment
• increasing access and equity to training so that all individuals have the opportunity to develop their potential.