The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released new tertiary education pathways data. According to it, Australians are becoming more highly educated and they receive higher education more and more often.
The report revealed that the proportion of adults with one post-school qualification has increased by 7 per cent during the last decade while the number of owners with two or more qualifications raised by 5 per cent.
The data for the report was gathered from the 2009 Education and Training survey. Adults in age between 25 and 64, namely their education history, were analyzed to find out what levels have been opened for tertiary education during that time. The reports says: “With an ageing workforce and an increasingly complex economy it has become necessary for governments to ensure that education pathways exist to allow individuals of all ages to acquire new skills and relevant qualifications”.
According to report, the pathways worked well and 11 per cent of Australians acquired degrees out of the 4.7 million people who received VET qualifications. Out of 2.3 million Australians, a third continued education after obtaining postgraduate qualifications.
However, the statistics show that almost one in ten of adults who have obtained bachelor degrees continue getting more qualifications at the same level.
Leesa Wheelahan, tertiary education expert with the University of Melbourne’s LH Martin Institute, said: “The reason people get worked up about this issue is sectoral politics – the VET proselytisers want to demonstrate that higher education is useless at preparing people for work, and that VET has the moral high ground in this area”.
