ACFE Pre-Accredited Purchasing Package And Guide 2014

The Victorian Government is committed to building a modern, high quality vocational education system, which offers all Victorians the opportunity to gain the skills they need and develop their capabilities.

Victoria’s adult community education sector has a long, proud history. Today, more than 300 Learn Local organisations (LLOs) deliver a wide range of education and community programs, including vocational training to more than 75,000 Victorians. LLOs have a great record of supporting Victorians who face barriers in accessing education and training, and in building people’s capabilities and confidence for work and life. LLOs also deliver accessible, locally-based training in parts of Victoria where there are fewer training options. They are among Victoria’s most valuable community assets, improving the lives and prospects of many Victorians, and playing a positive role in strengthening local economies and communities.

Learn Local: Focusing on the Future

On 29 August 2013, the Minister for Higher Education and Skills launched the Learn Local: Focusing on the Future strategy. The Learn Local strategy sets out the actions Government will take to help the sector to sharpen its focus and improve its sustainability and responsiveness. The strategy will apply the strengths of Learn Local organisations to boost the sector’s capacity to deliver high-quality education services and pathways to employment. It will assist the sector to keep pace with the evolving needs of employers and students.

The Learn Local strategy provides an important context for the ACFE Board’s investment in pre-accredited training. Through this strategy, the Government affirms its commitment to pre-accredited training and the importance of Learn Local organisations within the Victorian vocational training system. A copy of Learn Local: Focusing on the Future can be accessed at: cation.vic.gov.au/training/providers/learnlocal/Pages/future.aspx

The role of the ACFE Board

The role of the Adult, Community and Further Education (ACFE) Board is to advise the Minister on the provision of education and training programs and services for adults in community based and Adult Education Institution settings. The focus is on building capability of individuals and the capacity of communities.

The ACFE Board achieves these objectives through an investment process that

· establishes relationships with viable community based adult education organisations (LLOs) in order to invest in delivery of vocational education and training

· delivers outcomes for learners in line with government policy

· supports LLOs by providing access to specific activities and grants and utilises the facilitative and advisory roles of Regional Councils and regional staff

Entering into an agreement with the ACFE Board

To be eligible to receive funds for pre-accredited delivery in 2014 organisations must be registered with the ACFE Board and have a current valid Business Viability Assessment.

Registration does not provide a guarantee of funding. For more information on registration with the ACFE Board, see Guidelines and Criteria for Registration with the Adult, Community and Further Education Board (doc - 146.5kb )

Organisations offered funding will be required to enter into an agreement with the ACFE Board.

In 2014 these agreements will be made using the Common Funding Agreement which is a standard funding agreement for use with not for profit community organisations in receipt of Victorian Government funding for services and projects.

The Agreement:

· Outlines the general terms and conditions of the Agreement.

· Establishes the principles guiding the relationship between the ACFE Board and the Learn Local Organisation

· Obtains the Learn Local Organisation’s commitment to support government policies that have a bearing on the provision of adult, community and further education to Victorians

Agreements are signed by the ACFE Board and the Learn Local Organisation.

2. ACFE Board supported education and training in 2014

ACFE Board 2014 purchasing priorities

The ACFE Board has a strong focus on supporting the learning of Victorian adults who are well suited to participating in learning in a Learn Local setting. This includes people with higher learning needs such as:

· people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds and those who require assistance with English as a second language

· learners facing adult literacy and numeracy challenges to participation

· those who have been marginalised and have not accessed education, training and employment

· people who have experienced barriers to education in the past

· those who live in remote and rural areas or who have limited access to learning opportunities

· people whose education and employment opportunities can be enhanced by improved digital literacy.

Pre-accredited learners are likely to be:

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· Early school leavers

· Disengaged youth

· CALD learners

· Learners with a disability

· Indigenous learners

· Male learners over 45

· Vulnerable low skill workers

· Low socio-economic status

· Unemployed/underemployed

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The ACFE Board has identified these learner groups for particular focus in pre-accredited programs.

Approximately 80 per cent of the available 2014 budget will be allocated to programs targeted to improving pathways to education and employment for higher needs learners, with the remaining 20 per cent focussed specifically on programs that develop digital literacy for these learners.

The ACFE Board will continue to give Learn Local organisations access to internationally recognised digital literacy course content as an option for supporting pre-accredited digital literacy delivery.

Pre-accredited programs purchased by the ACFE Board for delivery by Learn Local organisations

The primary purpose of pre-accredited programs is to provide vocational training to engage the most educationally disadvantaged learners and initiate vocational and/or employment pathways for them.

Pre-accredited training has an emphasis on those learners who have not achieved year nine or an equivalent qualification. It addresses the particular needs of those adults who have experienced barriers to education in the past and find it difficult to undertake accredited programs as their first step into vocational training.

Eligibility for Pre-Accredited Courses

To be eligible for pre-accredited government subsidised training places, a learner should be an Australian citizen, or an Australian Permanent Resident, or a New Zealand citizen.

Exclusions to Eligibility for Pre-Accredited Courses

An individual is not eligible for a government subsidised pre-accredited training place if they are:

(a) within the meaning of the Corrections Act 1986, a prisoner held at a prison, including but not limited to:

i) Hopkins Correctional Centre (Ararat)

ii) Barwon Prison

iii) Beechworth Prison

iv) Dame Phyllis Frost Centre

v) Dhurringile Prison

vi) Langi Kal Kal Prison

vii) Loddon Prison

viii) Marngoneet Correctional Centre

ix) Tarrengower Prison

x) Metropolitan Remand Centre

xi) Melbourne Assessment Prison

xii) Fulham Correctional Centre

xiii) Port Phillip Prison

(b) A person who is detained under the Mental Health Act 1986; or the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 or the Sentencing Act 1991 at the Thomas Embling Hospital.

(c) A person who is detained (other than on weekend detention) under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 or the Sentencing Act 1991 or who is held on remand in one of the following youth justice facilities:

i) Malmsbury Juvenile Justice Centre

ii) Parkville Youth Residential Centre

Publicity and Acknowledgement Guidelines

All providers are required to adhere to the Victorian Government Publicity and Acknowledgement Guidelines. These are as set out in Appendix 1. If you have any questions in relation to these guidelines you should contact the ACFE Board Secretariat (03 9637 2077).

Student Enrolment Privacy Notice

When enrolling learners in government subsidised pre-accredited training, all providers are required to use the student enrolment privacy notice set out in the latest version of the Victorian VET Student Statistical Collection Guidelines – 2014. A copy of this information for Version 2014.3.2 can be found at Appendix 2. The privacy notice must be used in all enrolment forms for all students who are commencing or re-enrolling. Providers may need to add further information to cover their organisation’s use of student data.

Where electronic enrolment forms are provided, appropriate electronic confirmation should be implemented for the student to confirm that the details provided are correct and that the student has accepted the privacy notice.

Pre Accredited Quality Framework

The Pre-accredited Quality Framework has been developed by the ACFE Board to improve outcomes for learners not ready to undertake an accredited course but wish to improve their skills so as to secure employment, access further study, and to build their capacity to engage and remain a part of a complex and fast changing society.

The Pre-accredited Quality Framework is a quality improvement mechanism and curriculum framework that supports teachers and managers to plan, develop, teach and review pre-accredited courses. It incorporates an updated A-frame and Moderation processes and a variety of other associated resources and tools.

The Pre-accredited Quality Framework is published as a kit containing a series of hardback volumes which are also available as a series of electronic files at the following link: www.education.vic.gov.au/training/providers/learnlocal/Pages/pqf.aspx

A-frame

Pre-accredited programs are locally designed programs developed using the ACFE Board’s A-frame. The A-frame is a system for planning and documenting educational practices. It provides a curriculum model and practical tools (the Course Plan and the Learner Plan) for planning and documenting pre-accredited courses. Electronic A-frame templates can be found on the above link.

Learn Local organisations contracted by the ACFE Board to deliver pre-accredited programs in 2014 are required to use the A-frame to design and develop these programs. On request Learn Local organisations must provide the Regional Office with copies of A-frame documents for any pre-accredited programs purchased by the ACFE Board for delivery in 2014. A-frame documents for programs being submitted for funding for the first time must be submitted with the delivery plan that includes the program.

Moderation and Verification

The ACFE Board has developed moderation processes to be used by Learn Local organisations developing pre-accredited programs to be purchased by the ACFE Board. The moderation process is a collaborative, peer appraisal process that promotes a shared understanding of what constitutes quality course design, delivery and outcomes for learners.

Regional Offices will request Learn Local organisations to provide them with a sample of pre-accredited courses at least once over a three year period for verification. The verification of moderated pre-accredited courses provides:

· an opportunity for Learn Locals to review and sign-off on their moderation processes;

· feedback to LLO about how sampled courses align to the Quality Indications; and

· an assurance to the ACFE Board that the courses they purchase are of a high quality regardless of where the courses are delivered across Victoria.

Over time all pre-accredited courses purchased by the ACFE Board will have been moderated by Learn Local organisations.

Fee concession arrangements for pre-accredited delivery

Some learners in pre-accredited programs are eligible for fee concessions. The ACFE Board has a budget to reimburse organisations for a proportion of the revenue foregone by granting fee concessions to learners in pre-accredited programs. Concessions must be flagged appropriately when uploading your statistical data to SVTS in order to be considered for a reimbursement and final SVTS data reports for 2014 will be the source for calculating these payments.

Regional Council priorities

The ACFE Board acts on advice from Regional Councils of ACFE about regional purchasing priorities and recommended program purchases. The role of the Regional Council of ACFE is to identify local, emerging or broader regional needs and recommend purchasing priorities.

The ACFE Board supports the purchase of programs that directly improve equity and access of learners to improved pathways to employment and further study. Specifically, the ACFE Board is interested in purchasing programs that reflect the needs of learners and industry demands in each region.

These demands vary across the state. For example, metropolitan regions will need to match purchasing allocations to growth corridors and identify programs that articulate pathways to accredited learning options; in rural and regional regions programs purchased will reflect industry demand and pathways for learners. The under-represented learners in each local government area vary across the state as do the current allocations in these areas.

Information on regional priorities is available at:

cation.vic.gov.au/training/providers/learnlocal/Pages/datapacks.aspx

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3. The purchase of pre-accredited training for delivery in 2014

Applying for funds

LLOs must use the ACFE Board’s delivery plan template to nominate pre-accredited programs for delivery in 2014. The template is available on the ACFE Board website.

To be considered for funding, a pre-accredited program must be 20 hours or more in duration and be part of a total pre-accredited purchase from the LLO of at least 500 student contact hours for the calendar year.

The delivery plan provides the basis for the LLO and the regional office to negotiate the purchase of pre-accredited programs across the four Program Categories. Each individual pre-accredited program must be identified separately on the delivery plan, one program per row.

When your delivery plan has been approved by the regional office the ACFE Board will use a Common Funding Agreement Schedule to purchase the training which will document the agreed SCH for purchase within each of the four Program Categories.