Meeting the demand: The needs of VET clients - An overview

In recent times the need for vocational education and training (VET) provisions to be demand driven has been a clear policy goal of federal and State governments. This has led to demand-driven VET becoming common and widespread with market-based practices including the competitive tendering of courses occurring throughout Australia. This change has seen providers becoming increasing responsive to particular client needs. However, this response is by no means a new phenomenon. Indeed, over the past decade VET provisions have largely focused on industry needs with providers being pressed to respond to industry demands, through government inspired and sponsored mechanisms. Hence, national competency standards and core curriculum were tightly linked to accreditation processes that mandated and regulated the provisions of VET in meeting industry demand.

However, there is now a shift occurring towards meeting the needs of enterprises. This is because national industry standards and core curriculum are seen as becoming increasingly redundant in the face of changes in the current political and industrial environment. Enterprises are emerging as a focus for making VET responsive to the demands of the economy. In addition, needs of regions and individuals are being acknowledged (Billett et al. 1997). Therefore, the needs of four defined key client groups-industry, enterprises, regions and individuals-have all to be accounted for in demand-side considerations. However, the needs of these client groups are neither necessarily consistent nor easily reconcilable.

The investigation examined the needs of the four client groups and their consequences for policy and practice within VET. In addition, it mapped the changing relationships among the key client groups and considered the likely consequences of particular sets of interests dominating VET provisions. The investigation examined the requirements for VET within two industry sectors (food processing and clerical) in three regions (a metropolitan centre, a provincial centre and a remote rural centre) which involved four States.

Issues examined included:

• changing relationships between the key VET client groups
• the needs of key client groups
• how the needs of key client groups are being met by VET provisions
• changing concepts of VET
• reconciling the needs of these client groups through local (regional) planning for, and the implementation of, curriculum
• balancing needs within a market-based VET system
• the role of VET teachers in addressing the needs of client groups

This overview of Meeting the demand: The needs of VET clients comprises a set of assertions arising from the investigation and a brief overview of the rationale for the investigation and the means by which it was conducted. It also provides a summary of findings and recommendations for future policy and practice. The full report and the case studies are published as a separate document.

The aim of the program that funded this research was to be 'leading edge and visionary' (NCVER 1997). It is up to others to decide whether this work meets these criteria. What is set out here is an alternative approach to how the demands of key VET client groups might be met.