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Submission to the Senate inquiry into the quality of vocational education and training in Australia An inquiry into the quality of vocational education and training in Australia25 November 1999
Mr John Carter Dear Mr Carter The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) is the professional association for the Australian library and information sector. As an organisation interested in the provision of quality information resources across the education sector, ALIA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the inquiry into the quality of vocational education and training in Australia being conducted by the Committee. The Association was established in 1937, and has 6500 personal members and 1500 institutional members, including almost 300 members in our TAFE Library section. ALIA seeks to promote and improve the services of libraries and other information agencies and to improve the standard of library and information personnel. This submission focuses on terms of reference relevant to library services provided by VET providers in Australia, with a specific focus on TAFE libraries and on equipping VET graduates with information literacy skills.
When evaluating the tenders of TAFE and private providers to provide training in a given area, critical attention should be paid to the ability of each to provide learning resource support. Currently, this issue is not addressed and this enables private providers to undercut TAFE providers who have higher overheads due to their commitment to providing learning resource support, including libraries. The Association is aware of anecdotal evidence from TAFE libraries in every State and Territory which indicates that there are private providers who do not provide such support and who encourage their students to join the local TAFE library as a community borrower. This puts further demands on the already under-funded resources within the TAFE library. In some cases a fee for service agreement has been reached between the private provider and the TAFE library.
Any consideration of delivery needs to include the infrastructure required to support it, including library resources. Any growth or change in delivery needs an appropriate allocation of resources to provide adequate learning resources to support it. New teaching methodologies such as flexible delivery and self-paced learning place more dependence on libraries, their facilities and staff. There are increasing expectations that libraries will provide the face-to-face contact and support that was previously available in the classroom; that library services will be available over increased and more flexible hours; and that library staff will provide professional or specialist support for individual students studying flexibly. Increasingly information is being produced electronically, and is being accessed through electronic media such as the Internet and multimedia. TAFE libraries are finding it increasingly difficult to take advantage of these to provide up to date resources and at the same time maintain current resources and services required by staff and students. This is largely due to insufficient funding to pay for licensing fees and the electronic hardware and software required for the delivery of current educational outcomes. Increased electronic access to information also requires additional assistance from library staff to provide technology and information literacy instruction. Many people cannot walk up to an electronic database and use it with the same ease as a book. Often databases are not user friendly and people need assistance with searching and retrieving quality information.
TAFE makes a significant contribution to the essential infrastructure and social capital of small rural communities. Investment in and maintenance of a well-resourced TAFE presence in these communities has a profound effect on education and career opportunities for country people. Well-resourced TAFE libraries providing equitable access for all Australians to information, particularly electronic information, complement curricula and further the development of an information literate society.
Compared to other libraries with a close client match to TAFE libraries, such as university libraries, TAFE libraries have historically been poorly funded. For example, university libraries receive funds at the mean rate of $700 per EFTSU [Council of Australian University Librarians Statistics 1997] where TAFE libraries struggle to receive funding at a rate of $40 per EFTSU [Victorian Association of TAFE Institute Librarians Statistics 1997]. Additionally, TAFE libraries are staffed quite differently to University libraries; each EFT staff member in a university library services 116.5 EFTSU [Council of Australian University Librarians statistics 1997] while each EFT staff member in a Victorian TAFE Library services 480.6 EFTSU [Victorian Association of TAFE Institute Librarians Statistics, 1997]. Each TAFE library staff member therefore is required to service four times as many students as a University library staff member and this has implications for the quality of service which can be offered in TAFE libraries.
TAFE libraries provide an important support service to TAFE curriculum and teaching. Within the current allocation of resources TAFE libraries are required to support an increased range of curriculum. The resources of TAFE libraries are no longer adequate to support the needs of existing and prospective clients. The Association understands that funding levels to TAFE libraries have not increased in five years and in some cases have been reduced, with these reductions leading to greater difficulty in providing access to current and relevant learning materials.
While VET in schools is being heavily promoted, the additional resources for school libraries required to support such programs do not seem to be available. There is significant pressure from the school sector to use TAFE libraries in which resource levels are already stretched and often inadequate. Where VET in schools programs are undertaken through an agreement with a TAFE institute, schools and TAFES need to accept joint responsibility for resource provision. In South Australia, VET in schools programs are based on training packages where these exist. To aid the transition to training packages, funding has been set aside to provide the resources for teacher upskilling and other essential training and resources.
If you require further information on any aspect of our response to this inquiry, please contact me on 02 6215 8214. Yours sincerely
Jennefer Nicholson
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