The VET Sector News- August 2021

Australia is facing a severe labour crunch

As the world recuperates from the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, labour shortage has crippled many advanced economies. To deal with this, Australia has released a Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) – a list of skilled occupations that the Australian government has assessed will be needed to fill critical skills needed to support Australia’s economic recovery.

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COVID-19 information letting down international students, non-English speakers

Many international students and temporary visa holders are struggling to grapple with information about the COVID-19 vaccine situation here in the ACT.

Chinese student Dahlia is a recent graduate from the Australian National University (ANU) who currently works in a department store while on a student-dependent visa. She says that many non-English speakers like her are relying on news from China about what is happening in Australia regarding vaccines.

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6 Must-Have Workplace Learning Strategies For The Hybrid Workplace

The workplace of the future is hybrid. It implies a blend of in-office and remote employees, some of whom may even rotationally work in an office and remotely. This hybrid model implies that team members are geographically dispersed, even potentially spanning multiple time zones.

This presents a host of challenges, many of which can be resolved with an effective hybrid workplace learning strategy and roadmap.

Truly, the hybrid workplace existed before COVID forced most knowledge workers to engage remotely. The response to the pandemic-triggered remote operations proved that many organizations were ready to face the inherent technical and operational challenges. Now that a hybrid workforce is the recognized reality, many organizations have realized its potential to increase productivity, retain and entice top talent, as well as enhance workflows.

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Australia in talks to simplify visa process, waive fees for students

International students in Australia universities could be looking at a future with cheaper and simpler visa processes, as the country works towards resuscitating its international education sector. The Australian Financial Review reports that the Morrison government has been given a roadmap to recovery that includes prioritising students from low-risk countries, simplifying the visa process and waiving fees, regulatory relief for some providers and a marketing campaign to reassure international students they are still welcome to study in Australia.

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Why Australian universities must offer students a better deal now

Governments and Australian universities are planning for the recovery of the international student market once Australia can start easing border closures that have had huge impacts on universities and the economy. The situation is becoming increasingly urgent: a new ANU-commissioned analysis shows an alarming fall in international student demand for Australian universities. It’s less than two-thirds of what it was before the pandemic.

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Tudge handed recovery road map to reverse overseas student crisis

The Morrison government has been handed a road map to recovery for the $40 billion international student sector that includes giving priority to students from low-risk countries, simplifying the visa process and waiving fees, regulatory relief for some providers and a marketing campaign to reassure students they are still welcome.

he plan, which has been with Education Minister Alan Tudge for more than a week, comes as the government faces increasing rancour over the lack of a national plan to regain dwindling enrolments among international students.

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Australia plots international education restart from the bunker

Representative groups put preparatory work in place as latest infections undermine plans to reboot arrivals.

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Free building and businesses courses for reskilling during lockdown

TAFE NSW will offer 10 new fee-free courses in mental health, digital security, business administration and construction to help people re-skill during the pandemic.

Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education Geoff Lee said the fee-free training in areas of employment growth was designed to help support the community through the lockdown.

“Whether you are in lockdown in Greater Sydney, or in a regional community, I urge NSW residents to take advantage of the free training options available that will help build the skills needed to get a head-start in a post-COVID economy,” Mr Lee said.

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SD73’s insurance provider for international students suffers cybersecurity breach

KAMLOOPS — School District No. 73 (SD73, Kamloops-Thompson) said it was notified that guard me, the travel and medical insurance provider for its international student program, experienced a cybersecurity breach incident.

Personal information that may be impacted by this incident includes identity information, contact information, and other information provided to support submitted claims.

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Immigration update: Australian states open skilled visa nomination programs for 2021-2022

Australian jurisdictions receive quotas from the federal government each year, based on which the states and territories nominate skilled and business migrants for the Skilled Nom­inated visa Subclass 190 and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa Subclass 491.

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News Corp and Google launch journalism academy in Australia

News Corp Australia and Google have launched an education program to equip news professionals with the skills for storytelling based on the “commercial realities” of today’s media industry.

The academy, which begins in early 2022, will accept 750 local and regional Australian news professionals over the next three years.

The training will focus on skills such as digital journalism, video and audio production, data journalism, audience measurement, reader revenue, digital business models and marketing.

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NSW leading the nation in skilling Australians

More than 100,000 people in NSW have taken up fee free courses since the joint Federal-State JobTrainer initiative was first introduced in October last year.

Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education Geoff Lee said NSW was now leading the nation in equipping people with skills after more than half of Australia’s JobTrainer enrolments hailed from NSW.

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Australia pioneers ‘stacking’ of micro-credentials into degrees

Comparison websites on the way as admissions centres reinvent their services amid emerging needs and demographic change.

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Nearly 100,000 international students leave Australia as borders remain closed

Federal government data indicates Australia has lost more than 100,000 international students over the past financial year. Each student lost can cost the economy nearly $60,000 in terms of tuition fees and overall economic contribution, as per estimates of the International Education Association.

Dilpreet Singh, a former student in Sydney, is amongst hundreds of international students who have resolved to never return to Australia.

The second-year undergraduate told SBS Punjabi that his university’s push to online studies coupled with the government’s “dilly-dallying” towards providing a timeline for the return of overseas students, had compelled him to look at other education destinations like Canada.

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Another pilot plan for international student return to Australia delayed

The Greater Sydney lockdown will push back any plans for international student return to Australia until August 28, at least. This lockdown was extended for four weeks on July 27 in view of the rising cases brought about by the notorious Delta variant. It will inevitably pause the New South Wales (NSW) pilot plan, which would enable 250 international students to come to Sydney per fortnight.

The Greater Sydney area includes the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour. The lockdown has most recently been extended to Newcastle and the Hunter region after 262 new active cases in NSW on August 5, including five deaths. It will last for one week, at least.

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Survey details learner engagement satisfaction drops in Australia

The overall quality of education experiences of international students at education providers in Australia fell in 2020, particularly among Chinese and Malaysian undergraduates, a survey has revealed.

Surveying more than 87,000 offshore and onshore international students between July and October 2020, the 2020 International Student Experience Survey showed overall education experience remained largely stable among respondents in vocational education and training, with 84% rating positively in both 2019 and 2020.

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Post-COVID-19: Connecting Young People to Jobs of the Future

The pandemic has brought devastating effects on young people especially on their livelihood opportunities and employment prospects. Recent ILO data shows that youth employment fell by 8.7 per cent in 2020 compared with 3.7 per cent for adults. Meanwhile, the world of work continues to rapidly transform. Nearly 50 per cent of companies expect that by 2020, automation will lead to some reduction in their full-time workforce, and more than half of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling.

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The pandemic has carved $13.6 billion from Australia’s education sector as international student numbers fall

Closed international borders and limited online study options have reportedly carved $13.6 billion from Australia’s overseas education exports since 2019.

Citing the Australian Bureau of Statistics, The Australian reports the annual value of tertiary education exports, accounting for tuition, accommodation, and related travel expenses, fell from $40.3 billion over the 2019 calendar year to $26.7 billion in the 12 months to June 2021.

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JobTrainer mops up unmet demand for training, puts people into jobs

She’s a bit ashamed to admit it, but COVID-19 has been good to Patricia Pattison. The former taxi driver from Townsville, Qld, is among the 200,000 Australians who have undertaken a training course under the 2020 JobTrainer initiative.

In need of a life change after the death of her husband four years ago, Mrs Pattison moved to Sydney to be closer to her two sons, took a leap of faith and half way through last year enrolled in a certificate IV in aged care with TAFE NSW.

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OECD Conference | Disrupted futures: International lessons on how schools can best equip students for their working lives

As countries turn their attention from handling a healthcare emergency to dealing with its economic consequences, concern rises over youth unemployment. Even before the pandemic, young people in many countries were facing difficulties in their transitions into work. During the pandemic, young people commonly found themselves disproportionately affected by lay-offs and recruitment freezes. Now, with the world coming out of the crisis, young people find themselves particularly vulnerable in the search for work.

This OECD conference focuses on what schools can do to prepare young people for their transitions through education into ultimate employment.

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