Posts by Paul Williams
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Hard News: All Change, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Employers don’t value the quals in the current framework, and the funding can only go to the ITO or tertiary. Cannot off-set employer costs.
I get that - it's problem in Australia and elsewhere. It's also a classic example of the tradeoff between getting skills to get a job and getting enough skills for a sustainable career, typically that is a qualification at at least one level post-compulsory school.
I do understand too that vendor-accreditation is generally higher regarded than any national qualification. Most of our ICT qualifications embed vendor accreditation. But they're still full qualifications.
With Jacinda taking the Treasury benches, I’m *really* hoping the previously announced ICT apprenticeship policy still holds.
Interesting, I'd not previously known about it.
Something similar could emerge from some work underway in Australia to embed digital skills in all training. More about that here.
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Hard News: All Change, in reply to Kumara Republic,
There’s a mention of “hop on, hop off learning” in NZ’s Future of Work report.
Even stronger, one of the findings of the NZ Productivity Commission's March '17 review of tertiary education was:
A student education account model would place students at the centre of the tertiary education system. However, the prerequisite conditions needed for such a model to be successful are not yet present in New Zealand.
I agree with the second sentence. There's a need for careful sequencing and pacing of related reforms - governance, learner information, regulation etc - before you'd seriously consider such an approach and that reform is needed regardless.
BTW, the full report is here.
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Hard News: All Change, in reply to Bart Janssen,
But can everyone benefit from tertiary education?
Hell yeah. And at any stage of their life.
I largely agree. You might be interested to note that the Business Council of Australia, the week before last, recommended giving "every Australian a capped Lifelong Skills Account that can be used to pay for courses at approved VET or HE provider over the person’s lifetime". It would comprise access to subsidised programs and a loan scheme. The differences between VET and HE in Australia are more pronounced than they are in NZ, because States mostly - but not entirely fund VET - whereas the Commonwealth entirely funds HE. Regardless, this debate - about what kind of post-compulsory education people need is urgent. I sincerely hope the next Minister in Charge of Tertiary Education in NZ considers this as one of their priorities.
For those with the time and interest, the full report is here.
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The decline in vocational options over the years in the Anglosphere has a large role to play in that.
Anglosphere I can't comment on; however in New Zealand, for many many years' participation in vocational education and training has increased.
Chief Executive of the Industry Training Federation, Josh Williams, pointed out in August, there's more apprentices and trainees that there are uni students.
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Hard News: That escalated quickly ..., in reply to Russell Brown,
And in other news, Mike Munro, formerly Helen Clark’s press secretary, has joined the Ardern team as strategic advisor.
This is a pretty big deal.
Very very smart move. Weekly Facebook live events is another clever way to improve the younger vote.
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Hard News: That escalated quickly ..., in reply to BenWilson,
It’s like X-Gen in NZ is finally getting it’s shot
This has to be a big part of the thinking; engaging younger voters by giving them someone who looks and sounds like a contemporary.
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Hard News: That escalated quickly ..., in reply to llew40,
Our dealings with Andrew Little have been good, a thoroughly decent and principled person
Ditto mine.
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Hard News: That escalated quickly ..., in reply to Hilary Stace,
Grant Robertson nominated Kelvin Davis as Deputy this morning
Which is further evidence as Grant's consistently selfless approach to the Party, since he may well have been considering the deputy role himself.
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Up Front: I Swear, It's True, in reply to Joe Wylie,
It has been a long time since I've spent sufficient time at Public Address! This is all genius.
Australians have many, often localised, variations of traditional NZ terms. "Died in the Arse" is one, "Rat Fuck" another.
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A great addition to the PA community.