Students with disabilities continue to experience barriers to accessing tertiary (i.e., postsecondary) education in Australia. Using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) may help educators proactively address barriers through the design of more accessible and inclusive educational experiences. However, at present, references to…

The first years of life lay the foundations for a child's future development and learning. Many countries have increased their financial support for provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) over the past years. More recently, the focus of debate has been shifting from expanding access to affordable ECEC to enhancing its quality. A…

Employees in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) form part of a "disadvantaged" group within the workforce that receives less access to training and development (T&D) than employees in large firms. Prior research into reasons for the relatively low levels of employee participation in training and development has typically…

"Research Messages 2014" is a collection of summaries of research published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in 2014 in the context of changing economic, industrial, social and education conditions, organised under the following broad categories: (1) Productivity: to sustain and build Australia's human…

In a global society and economy, education and training is essential to a nation's competitiveness and to the standard of living of its people. The need to open the doors of higher or further education beyond the relatively limited enrollments in elite and selective universities has spawned a movement to develop or expand institutions that are…

Degrees in technical and further education (TAFE) are relatively new, but are likely to grow as a consequence of government policies that both seek to increase the percentage of Australians holding a bachelor degree and create a more unified tertiary education sector. There are ten TAFE institutes authorised to offer higher education in five…

This report aims to inform Canadians on the extent to which Canada's post-secondary education sector is contributing to Canadians' social and economic objectives, its ability to respond to a fast-changing global environment, and how Canada's approach to higher education compares with other leading developed countries. Analysis of currently…

A Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training, established to investigate the provision of Australian educational facilities and services and the relationship between the labor market and the educational system, is discussed. The committee considered flexibility in education and training, apprenticeship, accessibility of education and…

This report explores access to vocational education and training (and university) currently and historically over the past 20 years. It reports that those young people most likely to miss out on vocational education and training include those with disabilities, young people still living at home, children from single-parent families and those…

This review synthesizes work undertaken in the field of economics and education with the aim of identifying and analyzing the economic dimensions of recurrent education. The development and meaning of the concept of recurrent education are addressed through discussion of the antecedents of the concept, international developments in recurrent…

Sixteen articles discuss the implications of Australia's Green Paper, a public policy statement recommending substantial changes in the higher education system to improve access. The issues discussed include labor force development, educational equity, women's education, and the financing of higher education. (MSE)

A study investigated implications of the increase in non-standard forms of employment (casual work, working through labor-hire companies, and work that is outsourced) for vocational education and training (VET) in Australia. Data sources were published statistics on growth of non-standard work; research on reasons for the growth and the business…

This document focuses on investigations of three main issues of "User Choice," which has been applied to New Apprenticeships since 1998. The issues are as follows: (1) why some firms do not access User Choice when arranging training for their trainees and apprentices; (2) whether the size of the firm has a significant impact on User…

This report investigates the medium-term outcomes of vocational education and training (VET) programs delivered by rural schools for youth and their communities. Former students from six rural school clusters in six states were surveyed, including those who participated in school VET programs and those who did not. Principals and school VET…

This report covers a study of barriers for older workers in obtaining and benefitting from training and innovative policies to remove them. After an introduction, Chapter 2 reviews literature on incidence and determinants of older workers' participation in training; barriers to training; and employer and government initiatives to enhance older…