Tertiary students with lower ATARs advised to consider vocational education
Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) CEO Todd Hacking has pinpointed transport as an example of an industry where vocational diplomas can lead to higher lifetime incomes than what low-ATAR university graduates are likely to earn.
He was referencing the Grattan Institute’s new report, Risks and rewards: when is vocational education a good alternative to higher education, which debunks the belief that attending university guarantees a better-paying job.
It notes higher education has expanded rapidly in Australia over the past 20 years, whereas vocational education has flat-lined. This leads to concerns that students, especially lower-ATAR school leavers, are being encouraged to enrol in higher education and to overlook potentially better-paid vocational education alternatives in fields with good job prospects.
It concludes that schools need to give students better career advice, alerting them to these possibilities – and governments should end funding biases against vocational education.
“There are an abundance of amazing and rewarding opportunities for school leavers in our industry,” Hacking says.
“We’d like to see the findings of this report on the kitchen table, in the home of every school leaver.
“The vast majority of schools are currently a bit blinkered to the opportunities available through trades and other vocational study.
“What they fail to appreciate is the sophistication of our industry and how the career opportunities cover just about every skill-set imaginable.”
Hacking points to the HVIA’s efforts in this space, especially with growing skills shortage forecasts as the freight task grows, having recently launched a series of videos highlighting the diverse career paths available in the heavy vehicle industry.
Accompanying the new Jobs Hub at the 2019 Brisbane Truck Show (BTS), Hacking says the 2019 BTS online jobs portal is set to play a permanent role in HVIA’s workforce development strategy.
Scania gave the BTS Jobs Hub initiative its tick of approval
“Very shortly we’ll be switching on a new HVIA website and the Jobs Hub will be moved across into a permanent home.
“We were delighted with the response from industry during the week of the Brisbane Truck Show, with over 150 jobs advertised on the portal.
“We’ve had equally enthusiastic response from the education and employment sector, who are keen to use our online facility as a conduit between their job-seekers and our members.”