Duration of vocational qualifications and quality
31 August 2010, by Emeritus Prof Richard Carter
When Australia developed and implemented its competency based vocational training system, a significant area of debate and concern for the quality of training occurred in the area of the duration of training. Advocates for competency-based training (CBT) argued, appropriately I believe, that the education and training system was too firmly attached to notions of duration of training rather than the achievement of competency. Opponents of CBT on the other hand were concerned that the development of conceptual understanding and underpinning knowledge would be lost as short duration and narrowly instrumental training would result.
