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Australia-China Services Trade: Opportunities and Challenges of a Free Trade Agreement

Beijing, 24 April 2006

Session Three: Education

Presentation by Mr Antoine Barnaart, Australian Team Leader
Australia-China (Chongqing) Vocational Education and Training Project

Introduction

Professor Fahey has provided a good overview of the Australian Education and Training Services in both her presentation and the accompanying paper so I will focus on the key issues relating to the VET sector, how it impacts on both our countries and the specific VET opportunities and challenges of a Free Trade Agreement.

Let me start by acknowledging that both China and Australia are experiencing strong economic growth. This growth brings with it opportunities for prosperity and improvement in the quality of life of our respective populations.
Strong economic growth also brings many labour market challenges such as the increased need for skilled workers in existing industries, skill gaps resulting from the development of new innovative industries and the reskilling of displaced workers from declining industries. 

When these conditions occur, the education sector, and in particular, the vocational education and training sector, in both are countries, have to respond to these changes. I highlight the vocational education and training sector because it is this sector that has to and is designed to respond, in the short and medium term, to the changing needs of our respective economies.

At China’s National VET Conference, convened in Beijing on November 7 2005, Premier Wen Jiabao emphasized the need to strengthen the development of VET to change China’s huge population pressure into the advantage of a skilled human resource. He also said China not only needs a large number of scientists, engineers and economic managers, but also millions of laborers with high level technical abilities.

To achieve this, China will focus on strengthening VET development; enlarging vocational training in both secondary education and higher education; promoting innovation in VET through state-owned VET schools/colleges; supporting the development of private VET provision by encouraging enterprises, industries and society to deliver VET; developing an employment and industry focus for VET; enhancing VET quality; reforming VET teaching and learning and developing VET in rural areas.

At the 2nd Sino Australia VET Forum, held in Chongqing on 3 August 2005, the Hon Gary Hardgrave, Australia’s Vocational and Technical Education Minister, outlined a new and challenging reform agenda for Australia’s VET.

He said the Australian Government will take a stronger leadership role in the ongoing development of its national training system; industry and business needs will continue to drive Australia’s training policies, priorities, delivery and accountability; there will be a further enhancing of quality of the national VET system to increase the portability of skills across state and territory borders; the flexibility of our national system will be enhanced to increase opportunities for mature aged Australians to retrain, reskill and reengage with the workforce; the participation of disadvantaged groups, including indigenous Australians will be increased, particularly at higher education levels and the administration of the national VET system will be simplified and streamlined.

Of course, in highlighting these reforms, Minister Hardgrave also acknowledged that Australia already has a unique, industry led and internationally recognised VET system which had been reformed over a long period of time.  This very successful VET system provides a solid base on which to innovate and respond to Australia’s strong economic performance and changing demographics.

So currently our countries share the same challenge. Although the scope, size and response to these challenges, in some cases are different, there are also many similarities and opportunities where we can work closely together to reform VET.

Australia’s vocational education and training sector

The push for VET reform in Australia came in the late 1980’s when national industry leaders, in both the employer and employee organisations, had become very concerned that Australia’s skills development system was not able to meet the needs of a modern economy operating in a world market. This concern had been triggered by a recession brought about through a large decline in the value of the traditional natural resources and primary production export base and the subsequent need to restructure Australian industry towards higher value added manufacturing and service industries. This led to a fifteen year period of conscious reform led by the Australian Government and industry.

Prior to this period, VET was administered and developed by eight separate state and territory based systems which resulted in a lack of consistency in such fundamental aspects as:

This resulted in poor transportability of qualifications across the country, duplication of effort associated with the development of VET learning resources, limited and/or uneven involvement of industry in determining VET outcomes and reduced opportunities to promote a distinct quality assured VET product in the international education market. 

In contrast, Australia’s existing VET system can now be described as a strong national system, formally led by industry and government, supported with delivery by both public and private VET providers and underpinned by a solid quality assured, national training framework.

The diagram below shows that national training framework is made up of three key components: Training Packages, the Australian Qualifications Framework and the Australian Quality Training Framework.

A Training Package describes the skills and knowledge needed to perform effectively in the workplace. Each Package is made up of competency standards linked to qualification levels and assessment guidelines outlining how a person should be assessed to be competent. They do not prescribe how an individual should be trained.  Teachers and trainers develop learning strategies depending on learners’ needs, abilities and circumstances. Importantly, the competency standards are determined by industry.

The Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) provides the basis for Australia’s nationally consistent, high quality vocational education and training system. The standards provide the common foundation for ensuring the quality and integrity of training and assessment services of registered training organisations (RTOs) regardless of where the training or assessment occurs. There are two sets of standards under the AQTF: Standards for Registered Training Organisations and Standards for State and Territory Registering/Course Accrediting Bodies.

VET qualifications form part of a suite of qualifications, each broadly defined in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). It covers qualifications issued by secondary schools, vocational education and training (VET) providers and higher education institutions and all are nationally endorsed. Because the Framework also includes senior secondary school certificates and university qualifications it facilitates linkages and credit transfer between the three education sectors. This promotes lifelong learning and a seamless and diverse education and training system. 

Another significant characteristic of Australian VET system is the flexibility and choice VET students have when choosing where and how they will undertake their education, training and assessment. Previous VET sector reforms expanded the delivery of formally recognised VET  from public or state owned VET Colleges to a broad range of Government recognised VET providers or RTOs.

Over four thousand VET RTOs are now delivering VET to over 1.6 million Australians each year. This compares with 164 Higher Education providers (39 universities and 125 private HE providers) delivering to 945,000 students.  VET students may learn mainly on an RTO campus, entirely in a workplace, or in any combination. Public RTOs (Technical and Further Education [TAFE] colleges) provide the majority of VET but many other organisations have also become RTOs. These include secondary schools, enterprises, industry organizations, private VET providers, community organisations and universities. Registration of an individual RTO has national effect.  Many RTOs work in partnerships with enterprises and so obtain access to advanced technology and the skills of enterprise staff to assist in VET delivery and assessment.

It is clear that Australia has focussed intensive effort on developing a world class VET system and all governments are committed to its continuous improvement and reform. Both public and private RTOs serve the Australian community well and both also contribute to Australia’s position as a leading global provider of education and training services.

Similar to the higher education and schools sectors, international VET programs are either delivered in Australia or as transnationals programs delivered in other countries, including China.

As previously indicated by Professor Fahey, there were 66,000 international VET students studying in Australia in 2005 with over 12,000 students coming from China. According to AEI data there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Chinese VET students studying in Australia from 2002 until 2005 with 5669, 7700, 9963 and 12223 studying in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively. None of the other top ten source countries for VET students reach 50% of China’s 2005 figure.

China is also a key market as Australian public providers expand their offshore delivery (transnational) of vocational education and training (VET). Figures compiled by the National Centre of Vocational Education Research (NCVER) show participation in VET overseas delivered by Australian public providers grew strongly from 18 300 in 2003 to 23 300 in 2004—a 27% increase. Over two-thirds of these offshore VET students studied in China, where the number of students enrolled grew by 5700 from 10 200 in 2003 to 15 900 in 2004—a 55% increase.

In summary, Australia has a well developed and innovative national VET system which delivers high quality VET programs to the business and general community in Australia as well as to international students either studying in Australian or in transnational programs offered in other countries.  China is our most important partner country for both “in Australia” and transnational VET students.

Current cooperation between China and Australia

Current cooperation between China and Australia in VET occurs in many ways, however there are three which are currently making significant contributions. They are the Australia China (Chongqing) Vocational Education and Training Project (ACCVETP) delivery of transnational VET programs and the TAFE Directors Australia (TDA)/China Education Association for international Exchange (CEAIE) VET Mentoring Project.

Australia China (Chongqing) Vocational Education and Training Project

ACCVETP is a bilateral project, funded by the Government of the Peoples Republic of China and the Australian Government through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).
The project purpose is to reform and expand China’s vocational education and training system and the goal is to contribute to the economic development of both Chongqing and China through the development of a vocational education and training system that is responsive to the needs of industry.

The ACCVETP, which commenced in early 2002, is being piloted in the Municipality of Chongqing over a five and a half year period with a combined project budget of AUD 25 million. It is divided into two major phases with activities at a district, municipal and national level.

The three year Demonstration Phase 1, included activities focussed on piloting competency based curriculum and demand driven VET in five pilot schools across the industry sectors of automotive, information technology, e-business, hospitality and tourism and building construction.

Municipal initiatives included the establishment of 5 Industry Coordination Committees and the reform of VET teacher education. National based initiatives enabled the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Central Institute of Vocational and Technical Education (CIVTE) to better incorporate industry participation in VET and to be more innovative in the design of VET policy.

The two and a half year Replication Phase is focusing on replicating successful outcomes achieved on Phase 1 and will consist of four main components:

Component 1 Replication of School Based Initiatives: The objective of this component is to replicate Phase 1 outcomes within and between each of the 5 pilot schools and between the pilot schools and 30 new partner schools. Schools will also trial the implementation of the VET teacher competency standards and quality framework developed in components 2 and 3.
Component 2 Municipal Based Initiatives: The objective of this component is to strengthen the capacity of municipal level stakeholders to work together to reform VET through enhanced formal relationships with industry, improve and reform VET teacher standards and quality, and enhance the collection and analysis of VET performance data.

Component 3 National Based Initiatives: The objective of this component is to strengthen the basis from which MOE can implement national policy improvement and innovation of VET in China. Activities will include the establishment of mechanisms to allow for the involvement of national industry associations in VET, the development of draft national VET teacher competency standards and an associated quality framework and the development of an enhanced VET research and reporting capacity.

Component 4 International Based Initiatives: The objective of this component is to establish and strengthen international VET linkages between China and Australia. A Sino Australia VET network has been established linking Chongqing Schools to Australian RTOs and two pilot schools are being developed as Sino Australia Cooperative Model TAFE Colleges. Two substantial Sino Australia VET Conferences will also be hosted by the project. 

Over forty different Australian advisers have made short and long term inputs into the project. Whilst all inputs have been critical to the project’s success, a significant and strategic short term input focussing on municipal and national VET reform was completed by Mr Paul Byrne in late 2005. Mr Byrne was a senior official and past CEO of the Australian National Training Authority and was personally involved with many of the VET reforms implemented by Australia over a 15 year period.  During his ACCVETP input, he studied existing national and municipal VET policies in Beijing and Chongqing and VET delivery in Chongqing.

At the end of his input he identified the following Five Key Elements of a Comprehensive VET System for China which were formally recommended to Vice Minister Wu, Ministry of Education and the Chongqing Education Commission.

These five elements align closely with the current priorities of VET reform in China, are reflected in the key design components in the ACCVETP and match the current areas of world class expertise within the Australian VET system. 

Transnational Programs

As previously mentioned, China is also a key market for Australian providers to expand their offshore (transnational) delivery of vocational education and training. There are over 400 joint programs and agreements between Chinese and Australian institutions, as well as research cooperation and academic and student exchange.
Australian VET providers involved in these important institutional relationships have generally adopted a strategic long-term approach to offshore programs in China. Approval of offshore programs is based fundamentally on the perception that transnational institutional partnerships provide significant development benefits through increased numbers of trained and skilled professional practitioners.

Although the end point of many transnational VET programs is increased numbers of Chinese VET students completing higher level studies in Australia, there is an underlying expectation, of both the Chinese and Australian partners, that these programs will involve multifaceted, two-way exchange and cooperation.

Because of stringent requirements contained in the AQTF, existing VET transnational programs are structured with a substantial, “up front” VET teacher development component for the teachers in the Chinese institution.  This is a significant capacity building activity for these teachers and a high priority VET development area identified in Chinese VET reform policies and a key component in the ACCVETP.

Other outcomes which enrich the Chinese partner institutions include the transfer of flexible teaching methods, competency based curricula skills, high level technical skills and teaching and learning materials as well as enhanced English language proficiency amongst teachers and students.

TDA/CEAIE VET Mentoring Project

On 18 March 2005, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by TDA and the CEAIE.  The two associations are conducting a pilot shadowing/mentoring project under the auspices of the MOU.  The project is being supported by funding from both the Australian Government through the Department of Education, Science and Training and the Chinese Government through the China Education Association for International Exchange.

The objective of the shadowing/mentoring program is to enhance cooperation and build partnerships between Australia and China in the vocational education and training sector, through establishing stronger links between leaders of Chinese and Australian VET institutions, facilitating exchange of information and enhancing understanding of each other's VET system.

The program also has as a specific objective of strengthening the management expertise of senior administrators of vocational education and training institutions in China, by giving them the opportunity of shadowing counterparts in Australian institutions and observing Australian practice. This is intended to give them an in-depth understanding of management approaches and systems in Australian TAFE Institutes, including quality assurance requirements and their implementation.

In addition to these three areas of cooperation, Australia’s National Centre of Vocational Education Research (NCVER) is, on behalf of the Department of Education, Science and Training, managing fifteen projects focusing on the quality of offshore VET delivery. A number of these projects are related to China and are designed to promote good practice in delivering programs offshore, a culture of continuous improvement by providers and provide ways of sharing information and experience.

Opportunities for China and Australia

Professor Fahey identified the following areas for improved cooperation in higher education:

These four areas are equally relevant for the VET sector. An additional area is highlighted below.

Capacity Building

There are substantial capacity building opportunities which occur as an outcome of the development and delivery of transnational programs. A further liberalisation of education services between our two countries can provide an environment where the number of transnational partnerships could significantly increase.

A critical area of VET reform for China is VET teacher education and there is clear evidence that existing transnational partnerships are making solid contributions in this area.

There are also good opportunities for Australian partners to leverage more benefits from these partnerships.  I believe that Australian VET providers are yet to take full advantage of the development opportunities arising out of partnerships with Chinese institutions. An increased number of Australian VET teachers and VET students working and studying in China, learning the language, culture and industry practices, can benefit both countries.       

Conclusion 

China and Australia face significant labour market challenges, relative to the size of each country. VET in both countries will be an essential contributor in meeting these challenges. The scope and focus of our reforms are similar, although Australia is well advanced with the implementation of these reforms.

Australia has developed a world class VET system which it is willing to share with other countries. The liberalisation of education services between our two countries can enhance the capacity of Australia to share our reforms with China.      

Education is an essential service in any country.  It has always been a solid foundation on which to build and enhance economic and cultural ties between countries.  Friendships developed through learning together can endure the challenges of time and last a lifetime.