What might RoVE mean for Kiwis?

Having been in the tertiary education sector since 2007, I have experienced first-hand how the growing numbers of international students has increased the workload on teaching staff. International students not only struggle with colloquial English in Aotearoa - even if English is their first language - the do not understand the culture, nor have they been pre-formed by our primary and secondary education to be appropriately prepared for tertiary education socialisation, learner independence and pro-social learning behaviours. 

I have found that imported learners appear to lack an understanding of the education context here. So first we have to teach them context, before they can be successful. This at least doubles the teaching load. And we have multiple failures: cheating, plagiarism, purchased assignments, learner dependence, dysfunctional teamwork, and all the wasted time of having teachers become auditors or police in order to preserve assessment validity.

So it was with trepidation, but also some relief that we collectively heard that an overhaul of the sector was beginning. Announced by the Minister in August of 2019, RoVE was the first major overhaul of the education sector in more than 30 years, sifting research and submissions from the 16 Government-funded Institutes of Technology & Polytechnics (ITPs) which deliver training, the Industry Training Organisations (ITOs), and the close on 7,000 private training providers plus any other interested parties (cc Training Academy, 2022; TEC, 11 March 2022).

Following is a little more detail on the key changes affecting learners:

• Te Pūkenga. The creation of Te Pūkenga, a national, centralised public provider to deliver regionally-accessible vocational education and training (VET), absorbing all 16 ITPs. Te Pūkenga will deliver VET to learners (cc Training Academy, 2022).
• WDCs. The creation of Workforce Development Councils (WDCs), absorbing all ITOs responsible for setting standards and qualifications for their industries. WDCs will provide VET standards (cc Training Academy, 2022).
• Regional skill groups. The establishment of Regional Skills Leadership Groups, to advise the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) about regional skill needs (cc Training Academy, 2022).
• CoVEs. The establishment of Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs), bringing experts and providers to create high-quality VET curricula, design and delivery (cc Training Academy, 2022).
• And three last things. Aligning VET with Māori learning needs and to better meet Te Tiriti O Waitangi obligations; and aligning/simplifying VET funding from level 3 to 7; and making VET accessible for Aotearoa New Zealand learners (cc Training Academy, 2022).

It is possible that Te Pūkenga will have a much more Aotearoa New Zealand focus, relying less on the import of international students for funding. However, at this point, as Te Pūkenga only commences from 1 January 2023, the specific strategic direction remains opaque.

It will be interesting to see how it works in practice, and whether RoVE and Te Pūkenga will result in education focused on training New Zealanders, and take the focus off trying to educate everyone else.

Sam

References:

cc Training Academy. (2022). What is RoVE and How Will It Change the Educational and Training System in New Zealand?. https://cctrainingacademy.co.nz/reform-vocational-education/

TEC. (11 March 2022). Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE). Tertiary Education Commission. https://www.tec.govt.nz/rove/reform-of-vocational-education/