New mixed-sector institutions: what do we know?
(from NCVER insight issue 44, Dec. 2011)
Australian tertiary education is being reshaped. As a result of economic and government policy pressures, the distinction between the vocational education and training (VET) and higher education sectors is blurring. Institutional types have become a lot more diversified and new institutional types are emerging. A recent study released by NCVER, entitled Shaken not stirred? The development of one tertiary education sector in Australia, provides some understanding of the nature and focus of new mixed-sector institutions. It also examines the impacts of these new institutions on the sectoral divide in tertiary education and highlights the consequences for policy, institutions, teachers and students.
In this study, new mixed-sector institutions are defined as universities that offer a small amount of VET, and private providers that offer programs from both VET and higher education sectors. There are 90 tertiary education providers in Australia registered to offer both VET and higher education. The emergence of these new types of institutions is attributed to two factors. The first factor lies in the Australian Government’s targets to increase the proportion of the Australian population with higher education qualifications. The second factor is the creation of tertiary education markets where educational providers compete for students and funding.
Leesa Wheelahan and colleagues find universities that offer a small amount of VET concentrate on a narrow range of fields of education with specific purposes. By contrast, several mixed-sector TAFE institutes are changing their brands to become new types of tertiary education institutions such as polytechnics that offer various qualifications ranging from VET entry-level training through to higher education programs. Mixed-sector private providers, on the other hand, focus on some limited fields of education across both sectors and are seeking to become specialist providers rather than multi-disciplinary institutions.
Although these mixed-sector institutions have different structures and often focus on widely differing qualifications, they face similar challenges. In particular, the requirements of complying with two separate tertiary education regulators and complex governance frameworks relating to registration, funding, reporting, quality assurance, and accreditation are onerous.
The authors conclude that changes in the economy and government policies will result in a reconfigured tertiary education sector with new types of institutions. It is suggested that if governments aim to support mixed-sector provision, a number of policy initiatives are required. These include: more streamlined regulation of the sectors; the introduction of a national register of tertiary education and a single statistical collection; and the establishment of a national framework for scholarly development for mixed-sector teaching and learning.
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