(NCVER) examines the growth and implications of higher education offered by TAFE
institutes.
Dr Leesa Wheelahan, Principal Researcher, Higher Education in TAFE, said the status
of TAFE degrees was of concern to all the people interviewed for this research.
"Interviewees thought that TAFE degrees, with their applied focus and emphasis on
what people need in the workplace could bring something to the sector that university
could not," Dr Wheelahan said.
Dr Tom Karmel, Managing Director, NCVER said while numbers of higher education
students in TAFE are small, these may well increase as governments strive to meet
their equity objectives and to boost the proportion of the Australian population with a
degree.
In undertaking this research, Dr Wheelahan and her colleagues found that many
teachers are concerned that their work isn't recognised as equivalent to those teaching
in universities.
"It is important that students undertaking higher education in TAFE receive the same
quality of education and experience as their university counterparts," she said.
"TAFE needs to be given support to provide higher education programs and to build an
academic culture.
"Quality provision of higher education in TAFE is premised on staff having the time to
engage in scholarship and not just the capacity to do so.
"There is a need for institutional discussion and debate about what it means to
construct a higher education culture, how higher education provision is and whether it
should be distinguished from other VET. Without this discussion, TAFE teachers will
feel their institutional culture is not conducive to higher education."
Higher education in TAFE is the first report to come out of NCVER's monograph series.
Researchers undertaking new work commissioned through the National Vocational
Education and Training Research and Evaluation (NVETRE) program can have their
research considered for inclusion in the monograph series.
For a copy of this monograph visit NCVER website .
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