Combining formal, non-formal and informal learning for workforce skill development

Appendix A:
Evidence on workplace training

In analysing responses to the 1997 Survey of Education and Training in which employees provided information on the type of workplace training they had undertaken Richardson (2004) found that workers:

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  with higher qualifications were the most likely to engage in non-formal and formal training
  
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  who did not complete secondary school had only a one-quarter likelihood of participating in external training sponsored by employers than do those who already have degrees
  
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  who do not complete secondary school are far more likely to engage in on-the-job training than those with degrees
  
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  in the public sector receive more hours of training than do those in the private sector
  
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  aged 25 years and under were far more likely to receive on-the-job training, than those aged 60 years and over (80% and 45% respectively)
  
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  from higher occupational skill levels (professionals and associate professionals, followed by managers and administrators) spent more hours in training.
  

In terms of industry differences Richardson also notes that:

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  Finance and construction have a high rate of general training for new workers but much less for experienced workers.
  
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  Agriculture offers very low levels of both general and firm-specific training.
  
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  Recreation and communications offer low levels of general training to new workers but quite high levels of firm-specific training.
  
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  Public administration offers average levels of general and firm-specific training.
  

Appendix B: Examples of accelerated apprenticeships

In this appendix we report on a number of examples of accelerated apprenticeship arrangements. This information was collected and reported on in a report to the Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy (NCVER 2006).

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  The Job Network agency is used to identify NSW mature-age workers, including migrants, who have demonstrated experience and skills related to the engineering trades of engineering mechanical and engineering fabrication. Participants are given RPL assessments to identify competencies already acquired and any gaps that need to be addressed. They are then placed in a 16-week up-front training program where intensive gap training occurs. This comprises their first year of the apprenticeship training program. They are then placed with employers for the second and third years and can then be signed off after the third year if they have completed the required competencies.
  
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  The TradesStart at TAFE initiative includes new entrants, who commence in a pre-apprenticeship program and undertake 16 weeks of full-time up-front training accompanied with work placements in industry. Credit is negotiated centrally with industry representatives. Those who complete the pre-apprenticeship program receive agreed credit up to 12 months off the nominal term of apprenticeship training and the equivalent of Stage 1 of the relevant AQF trade qualification. In this way they complete Stage 1 of the apprenticeship in their trade (credit arrangements range from four months in the case of electrical apprentices or 12 months in the case of engineering apprentices—see <http://apprenticeship.det.nsw.edu.au/html/advins/ ats04010.htm>.
  
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  There is also another variant of the project being delivered for the building industry and targetted at disadvantaged youth (especially Indigenous youth) at South Western Sydney, Miller campus. In this program the NSW Department of Housing has contracted the school to build housing commission homes. Although students in these programs are not apprentices, they will work under supervision on the building of the homes. Once they finish this they can enter the apprenticeship at the second year. They will then be able to complete the apprenticeship in three years.
  
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  The Xstrata company has two apprenticeship streams which are customised for its business needs. These are for the training of its electrical and mechanical apprentices. The mechanical apprentices are divided into two streams and will train to become plant mechanics and Xstrata mechanical tradesmen. The Xstrata mechanical tradesmen will be trained to undertake mechanical operations in underground workshops and environments. The Xstrata mechanical tradesperson will spend one day at TAFE and four days at the Hunter Valley Training Company for their technical and off-the-job training. Apprentices will go to the mine site during their holiday breaks to get experience in the mine workshops. In their second and third years the apprentices will rotate from their home sites to different sites to get a broad range of experience. This includes open-cut and underground mine sites (except for coal preparation which has no apprentices). During this time apprentices will also undertake work placements with external suppliers (including WESTRAC and Original Equipment Manufacturing). In their fourth year they will remain at the home site. The value for Xstrata is that they will end up with a mechanical tradesperson who has specialised in fitting and machining, fluid mechanics, hydraulics and fabrication.
  
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  The Individual Pathways Group was initiated in 2004 at TAFE NSW Sydney Institute’s Petersham campus and two local councils (Leichhardt and Marrickville) to explore the viability of accelerated training for child care workers with experience. It was based on the application of RPL. The acceleration was applied by having many of the modules required for the diploma being assessed only in the workplace. Some modules required self-paced learning using flexible learning materials and combining this learning with workplace assessment. There were other modules that required students to attend classroom training.
  
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  Automotive apprentices with Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMV) in Victoria sign a four-year contract with their CMV employer. A typical program will bring the apprentices in for an
  eight-week induction course with one week spent on occupational health and safety training and the rest of the time spent on units of competence that have been selected in conjunction with Kangan Batman TAFE. These units of competence are especially relevant to the manufacturer and the CMV training centre will deliver these on TAFE’s behalf. These will include units dealing with transmission, engines and electrics, electronic drive management and semi-automatic gear box. After the first eight weeks the apprentices will go to dealerships with which they will remain for the next three years (unless there is an exceptional circumstance and the arrangement needs to be changed). They will then return every six weeks to the training centre for one-week blocks of training throughout the three years. When apprentices have completed the three-year program and they are judged to be competent to industry standards, application for early sign-off is made. By June 2006 most of the apprentices in the program will be on target to be signed off after the three years.
  
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  The Queensland Government’s Smart Skills Initiative includes accelerated apprenticeships and a new cadetship system. Under the accelerated apprenticeships program about 19 projects are being implemented to trial the delivery of qualifications in shorter than nominal durations. Among these are pilot programs in building and construction, mining, manufacturing, and engineering. The aim is to fund 182 apprenticeship places each year over three years. A variety of models are applied; however, the main strategies used are:
  

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  intensive up-front training
  
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  expansion of traditional pre-vocational training to deliver the off-the-job components prior to work placement to enable would-be apprentices to be work-ready once they move into industry, and
  
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  RPL and associated gap training for existing workers so that they can move into advanced stages of the apprenticeship.
  

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  The fast-track approach in Western Australia gives mature-aged people with industry experience the opportunity to have their current skills formally recognised through an approved apprenticeship program. Swan TAFE at Thornlie campus has employed a specialist workplace assessor (a boilermaker who has owned his own business for 20 years) to undertake RPL assessments for their engineering programs (including that for boilermakers, fitting mechanics, electricians, fitting machinists, welders etc.). Once an existing employee has been identified for the ‘fast-track apprenticeship program’ the assessor will go out and assess the apprentice on the job for the purpose of allocating some RPL credits. To obtain RPL for workplace competencies apprentices must provide evidence to substantiate the claims for RPL. This can be done by having a nominated person in the workplace take photos of the apprentice doing his job, or by providing references or testimonials from employers, work samples, videos or photographs of work, on-the-job assessments, written assignments, reports, relevant course certificates, letters of support from previous employers, performance management records, and pay slips or other records of employment. The training provider assessor will question the apprentice about how they have approached a certain task. The assessor will also observe how the apprentice goes about completing a task and using different forms of equipment. Once the apprentice has been assessed and any RPL credits awarded, the apprentice is placed into a Stage 1, Stage 2 or Stage 3 class of apprentices. From then on he or she is treated like any other apprentice.
  
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  In South Australia the Commercial Motor Industries (CMI) Toyota fast-track apprenticeship started off in 2003 with the opening of its Technical Training Centre. Apprentices in this program sign on for a nominal duration term of four years. They will undertake 12 months of up-front training in the Technical Training Centre and TAFE. The Technical Training Centre is dedicated to the training of apprentices in the standards required to meet occupational health and safety conditions, workshop practice, Toyota-specific skills and knowledge, and personal presentation. The Technical Training Centre also supports, with supplementary information and practice, the training that apprentices undertake at the TAFE college. During the first year the apprentices will complete the core modules which represent the first and second years of off-the-job training. During the first 12 months apprentices will spend six weeks with a Toyota dealer that is closest to their home. During their second year they will complete the third year off-the-job program and will work full-time with a dealer. They will also attend the Technical Training Centre to supplement their TAFE training, and Toyota to undertake the Toyota Recognition program. During their program the competencies of apprentices are checked off in their competency-based training log book. For example, the signing off of competencies achieved will include feedback from the:
  

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  workshop leading hand, to confirm that the apprentice did not require assistance in demonstrating the competence
  
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  workshop controller, to confirm that the apprentice has written up the job card appropriately
  
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  customs relations officer, to confirm that no complaints were reported about the apprentice’s work, and
  
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  technical training manager, to indicate that the apprentice has met all the audit requirements.
  

Once the apprentice has shown that all the competencies have been met to industry-level standards of a tradesperson then his apprenticeship will be signed off early. To date there has been one apprentice who has been signed off after 2 years 7 months and 12 days, another after 2 years 9 months, another after 3 years, and the remainder will be signed off when they become ready.

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  Apprentices in the construction industry (carpentry, wall and floor tiling, plastering, painting and decorating, brick and block laying, and plumbing) in the Australian Capital Territory sign a four-year contract, which can also be accelerated. On commencement carpentry apprentices employed by the Construction Industry Training and Employment Association (CITEA) group training company will be involved in eight weeks up-front training. During this time they will undertake the necessary preliminary knowledge-based units in a simulated environment, and 80 hours of life skills training.¹⁷ They will also get their Senior First Aid Certificate and the occupational health and safety competencies required to get their blue card for permission to work in the industry. At the end of this period they are sent out to host employers, and then brought back to the training centre in one-week blocks over the remainder of the first year. During this time they will have completed the units of competency normally completed in Year 1 and Year 2 of the apprenticeship. In the second year apprentices will complete the units of competency usually done in Year 3 of the apprenticeship. They will come to the training centre for blocks of eight weeks during this second year. This training will include building complete houses, stairs or other things in groups. In between blocks of training apprentices will go back to their employers to consolidate their learning. A field officer will visit apprentices to sign them off (if they have achieved all the competencies). A typical apprentice who has achieved their competencies in this way can be signed off after three years.
  
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  The Master Builders Association Group Training Scheme in the Australian Capital Territory also implements the competency-based training approach to training to sign off apprentices once they have achieved all the required competencies. Their program for bricklaying apprentices comprises up-front intensive training in theory and practical skills for the first three months. By this time they are able to lay 150 to 200 bricks a day. They will then go out into industry for six to seven months and will then come into the training centre to complete a one-week block of modules, after which they will go out into industry for another six months. They will return to the training centre for a final block of six to eight weeks. At the end of this time (between 20 and 24 months) they can be signed off if they have met their competency requirements. This program is a trial program. If this works then the company will be looking to apply similar strategies for plastering, tiling and painting apprenticeships.