Our 2020-2022 consultation on the reform of vocational education

Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Frannie Aston tenei. I'm the chief advisor in the Quality Assurance Division at the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Welcome to this information session. Today we're going to provide an overview of the simplifying New Zealand qualifications and other credentials consultation.

This consultation has been conducted as part of the wider reform of vocational education or RoVE.
So this session will include an overview of the RoVE context and we'll discuss how our consultation on qualifications and other credentials fits within the unified vocational qualification and training system.

So we have some proposals to discuss with you and we would really like to get your feedback on these via our consultation platform or by email. We'll share these links to these at the end of this presentation.

Your written feedback will ensure that we can analyse the full range of views so they can inform our decisions about the qualification system.

So what is RoVE? The reform of vocational education is the biggest change and transformation of our vocational education system in 35 years. Together, we are working to create a unified vocational education system, to bring together industry and educators to make sure that New Zealand's workforce is fit for today's needs and tomorrow's expectations. The new system will have a stronger focus on employers and will be designed around learners who will receive more support.

Work integrated learning will become increasingly an important part of the system, giving people the opportunity and flexibility to earn where they learn and to gain an education that is more directly relevant to the changing needs of the workplace.

The reform is needed because there are skills shortages across a number of industry sectors and because the current system doesn't always meet the needs of learners, employers or regions. This is especially felt by learners who have not historically been well-served by the system. It can also be a lack of industry input into off the job training. And this frustrates employers.

RoVE has a number of key concepts and aims to create a vocational system which delivers to the needs of all learners, prioritizes Maori Pacific and disabled learners who have not been well served by the system, is relevant to the needs of employers, is collaborative, flexible, innovative and sustainable for all regions in New Zealand. Delivers more relevant vocational education and skills across all regions of New Zealand, and builds on New Zealand's reputation as a great place to study.

This means that successfully implementing RoVE will ensure that we are better able to deliver to the needs of all learners, especially those that have been underserved. Businesses will get the people with the skills they need when they need them, and regions will have skilled workers so communities can grow and thrive. There are seven key changes that will create the unified vocational education system.

Te Pūkenga has already been established and it will provide a unified and sustainable public network of regionally accessible vocational education. Bringing together the existing 16 ITPs, Te Pūkenga will blend the onsite and online learning of the current polytechnics with the role of supporting workplace learning. During 2021 this year, Te Pūkenga will develop the operating model to support its role in the system.

Regional skills leadership groups have been established to provide advice about the skill needs of the regions to the TEC, to the Workforce Development Councils, and to local vocational education providers. At the moment the RSLGs are publishing their Regional Workforce plans. Six Workforce Development Councils are being established to give industry greater leadership across vocational education. This is one of the significant changes being undertaken as part of RoVE. The WDCs will ensure the industry has a stronger voice and can take the lead in making sure learners develop the skills they need to be ready for the world of work.

Te Taumata Aronui has been established. This group will ensure that the reforms reflect the government's commitment to Māori-Crown partnerships. Centres of vocational excellence or CoVEs are being established. Two are in place so far. These are for the primary and construction industries.

CoVEs bring together Te Pūkenga and other providers, workforce development councils, industry experts and leading researchers to grow excellent vocational education provision and share high quality curriculum and programs designed across the system.

The two streams of funding in the current vocational education funding system will be integrated and will apply to all provider-based and work-integrated education at levels 3 to 7 excluding degree level study. In addition to these changes, we are now consulting on some possible changes to the qualification and credential system, which I'll talk more about now.

I'm now going to talk about our proposals for the qualifications and other credentials. Much of the focus on RoVE so far has been on establishing the new entities and the new ways of working together. We are now ready to look at the what of teaching and learning - qualifications, programmes, training schemes, micro-credentials - and ask whether there is a better and simpler way of ensuring that learning and employer needs are met.

We're consulting on three proposals. The first proposal is to ensure that vocational qualifications meet the needs of students and employers. The second proposal is to replace training schemes with micro-credentials. And third proposal would enable micro-credentials to be developed by WDCs for providers to deliver.

These proposals will support the move from current state as we are today to the new future state. How the new entities will work together to meet the needs of learners and employers.

So proposal one sets out two options for how qualifications can better meet the needs of learners and employers. The first option, option a, is to implement the current legislative settings for qualifications and programs. The second option, option B, is to further simplify the qualification system. The first option, option a, shows how the WDCS and providers will develop and deliver qualifications as set out in the Education and Training Act 2020.

Under this option, there will be no further legislative change. The WDCs will develop skill standards and training packages for providers to use in their programmes. Providers will need WDC endorsement to their programmes. The wānanga only need this if their programmes include work-based learning. Under this option it is likely that they would continue to be multiple programs.

It is worth noting that skills standards are the building blocks of both option a and option b. So the key features of option a are skills standards will be the core building blocks of vocational qualifications. WDCs will develop qualifications and skills standards informed by industry needs. Providers will develop programmes and WDCs will endorse them to make sure that they meet industry need. NZQA will approve programs only after they are endorsed by the WDC. The WDC will moderate providers assessment of skills standards to ensure consistency and the WDC will develop training packages which could specify what and how programs are delivered.

So we will now look at option B. Stakeholders have told us that there are too many products in the system. In this context, products include qualifications, programmes, standards, training schemes, training packages, micro-credentials, and that the products are not well differentiated. So under this option, programmes and training packages would be replaced with a collaboratively developed national curriculum. This would include skills standards. We’d see the WDC or other qualification developer, as this proposal would apply to all New Zealand qualifications at levels 1 to 6 on the NZQF, leading the collaboration with current providers participating in the development of this national curriculum.

Once developed, the national curriculum would be specified in the qualification and providers would not need to develop their own programmes.

There would be flexibility within this model for more or less prescription depending on the needs of industry or other stakeholders, which the qualifications serves. We'd anticipate that there'd be more prescription in the regulated trades, for example, and less in other areas such as the creative industries. The point is that the curriculum is collaboratively designed so that only what is important is mandatory.

We think that for option B, a single national curriculum would enable learners to move more easily between providers and between study-based and work-based training. For employers there would be more consistency of graduate outcomes and the system would be simpler for them to engage with. The WDCs would lead the collaborative process on the development of the national curriculum, and they wouldn't develop training packages or endorse programmes. And providers would collaborate with the WDC on the national curriculum, bringing their expertise in teaching and learning to the table.

They wouldn't develop their own programmes. So here's what we think are the key advantages and disadvantages of the two options. Again, we want to hear your views about this in your submissions.

So for option a, the key advantages are that enables flexibility but reduces consistency and portability. Employers need to engage at both the national and regional level, and providers bear the cost of program development.

For option b, it allows more influence by industry or other end user and greater consistency of outcomes. However, it requires legislative change and a longer implementation timeline.

So moving on to proposal two. Under this proposal, all training schemes would be replaced with micro-credentials. All existing training schemes would be deemed micro-credentials. We're also doing some more work to review the rules and to simplify the approval process.

Under proposal three, the Workforce Development Councils and other bodies would be able to develop micro-credentials for providers to deliver. This proposal is a bit more technical and aims to resolve an unintended contradiction in the legislation. In the legislation. The Workforce Development Councils can develop micro-credentials, but another part of the legislation doesn't allow NZQA to approve them.

This proposal would separate out the approval for micro-credentials from the accreditation to deliver them. Under this option, WDCs and other bodies would be able to develop micro-credentials on a national level and providers could be accredited to deliver them. Providers would continue to be able to develop their own micro-credentials as well.

Now I'm going to take you through the next steps. This is our timeline for the consultation decisions and potential legislative changes. We're currently consulting on our proposals and this consultation will finish on 16th of June. Throughout the consultation period we’ll also continue to update the frequently asked questions document that's on our VQ Consult website. You also might find it useful to check in on the FAQs from time to time.

Please make sure you have a say on these proposals. Your voice is important. We want to hear a wide range of views to inform decisions about qualifications and other credentials. The documents referred to in today's information sessions can be found on our consultation site. The site address is on the slide here and could be accessed via the NZQA website as well.

There is an online feedback form on the consultation site and we'll also take feedback through email or via letter if that's easier. So consultation closes at 6 p.m. on the 16th of June. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to hearing from you.

Ngā mihi and thank you.