Thank you, people of VET

I was looking over some of my more recent posts and even some of the conversations and commentary on the various forums, groups and places where I am active and I noticed that there was the sickly smell of dissatisfaction and negativity in the air.  So today I thought I might look at something different.  The people who make our vocational education and training system great.

Now be prepared for a bit of a shock here. I am not going to be talking about the political, or bureaucratic overlords, the researchers and academics, or the power brokers who are often mentioned when these discussions come up.  I want to talk about the real people of VET, the hard-working committed people who are out there on the coal face day in day out, doing their absolute best to make sure that the people they train and work with get the best possible outcomes from their programs.  I am not going to mention any names but I am sure that a lot of you will recognise who I am talking about.

People like the owner of a niche market RTO, who has struggled this year to keep his business and his people afloat amid what seemed like unending backtracking and nitpicking from the regulator, yet who still spent so much time assisting others in the sector to be better than they were.  The wonderful older lady, who is always willing to offer advice, no not just advice, wisdom, wisdom that only comes with age, experience and deep knowledge and commitment to the sector.  The man with so much experience in this sector, decades of experience, who has decided that enough is enough and that he is going to champion the cause of making VET  in this country as good as it can be again.

These are the people we should be praising.  These are the people we should be holding up to government and others and saying listen to what they have to say.  These are the people who are deeply committed to this sector, not for the money, or the accolades or the position it might bring them, but for the sector itself, for the students and the employers and everyone else who deserves to get a decent outcome from this sector.   These are also the people who in most cases I luckily get to call my friends, even when we don’t agree.

What is really interesting is that there are so many of these people out there.  People who have devoted so much of their lives and their passion to this sector.  People who wholeheartedly believe in the great value that sector can add to this country.  People who for the most part don’t get the acknowledgement they deserve.

So you know what, I acknowledge you and I thank you for all the great work you do.  And not just the people that I mentioned, all of you who wake up everyday and no matter what is says in the paper, how difficult a week it has been dealing with ASQA, or how disheartened you might feel,  you get out there and you make this sector a better place.  Whether it is making sure that every student who comes through your class gets the best opportunity for the best outcome they can achieve, helping others in the sector to understand how to be better at what they do, or tackling misinformation and skewed viewpoints head on. I want to take the time to thank you all for your contributions and to let you know that there is at the very least one person out here who really respects the work that you do.

Here is a challenge for everyone, think about those people in this sector who you know, who continually go over and above, who continually do all that they can to make this sector as great as it can possibly be.  Think about them, and think about acknowledging their contribution.  Think about saying thanks, because if it wasn’t for these committed individuals, and there is lot of them, this sector would be in a much worse place than it currently is.

 

Anyway that’s just my opinion.