Young early school leavers are increasingly enrolling in private Vocational and Education Training (VET) providers, but new research reveals these organizations are often ill-equipped to respond to the needs of this emerging cohort, many of whom are disadvantaged.
This influx comes after several years of federal, state and territory governments promoting a competitive, market-based training system, resulting in private VET providers capturing a larger share of the training market.
Our research, released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) and developed in partnership between researchers at the University of Melbourne, the Brotherhood of St Laurence and Victoria Institute, examined the role private VET providers play for early school leavers.
Looking beyond the funding and quality assurance debates, the focus was on practice and delivery at the provider level. We wanted to know how private VET providers are responding to the needs of disadvantaged early school leaver learners.