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Submission: Redesign of the vocational education and training system

Submitted 12 September 2024

We submitted feedback to the Government on its reform of New Zealand’s vocational education and training (VET) system, looking to improve skills training alignment to advance the building and construction sector.

Our feedback focused on the attributes we believe the VET system must have to best serve its learners, industries and providers. These include:

  1. Close industry alignment to ensure the VET system delivers the education and training required to meet an industry’s workforce needs.
  2. Continual feedback to and from sector research to ensure the curriculum remains current, and that insights into delivery pathways and challenges in the VET system are acknowledged and addressed.
  3. Consistency in curriculum content, delivery and assessment across different types of training providers and to future-proof the curriculum.
  4. International connections and relevancy which are key to New Zealand’s VET system. There is an opportunity to design methods to strengthen these during the reform process.

It will be equally important that an analysis of the costs and benefits of any system redesign is undertaken. This analysis should take into account what is working well in the current system and any positive outcomes from recent changes.