College concerns reinforce need for VET sector vigilance

Media reports concerning the reportedly dubious practices of an Australia-wide training provider have prompted the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) to affirm its calls for reform to the VET sector.

“Reports claiming that a training provider has used door-to-door salespeople, offering free laptops and fake exam results to target potential students, reinforce the need for vigilance and reform of the vocational education and training sector,” said Suresh Manickam, NECA’s CEO.

“NECA has previously called upon the federal government to ensure that the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) provides strict oversight and monitoring of poorly performing training organisations to ensure beneficial teaching outcomes, apprentices meet industry needs and standards, and that confidence in vocational education and training remains high.”

Manickam said that while NECA understands that the operations of the college mentioned in the reports are being monitored by the NSW Minister for Skills, further investigation by ASQA is needed for these types of situations and should be done at the direction of the Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Luke Hartsuyker.

“Australia’s electrical contracting sector has one of the highest safety and technical standards in the world,” said Manickam.

“As a lead player in the training of current and future electricians and contractors across Australia, NECA wants to ensure that the safety and technical standards of our industry remain a priority.”

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