UNEMPLOYMENT in Tasmania is an ongoing issue and one that demands a community approach.
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In recognition of this, TasTAFE is branching into areas that might help to alleviate the issues faced by the jobless and under-employed in this state, including the youth.
One is to provide an alternative Tasmanian Certificate of Education for people over 19. The other is to provide courses that develop basic business and enterprising skills that enable people to create their own employment opportunities.
Chief executive Stephen Conway said the organisation was looking to offer courses that developed literacy and numeracy skills for adults, to increase future job prospects.
‘‘TasTAFE is well placed to do more for adults in the community who, for one reason or another, have not been able to achieve the standard of literacy and numeracy that is required in the workplace today,’’ Mr Conway said.
‘‘We are actively working to deliver a Tasmanian Certificate of Education which is centred on a vocational core for people over the age of 19.
‘‘People who are not ready to go into our VET courses can go into these courses to ensure they learn the literacy and numeracy levels that come with educational attainment. It ensures they can eventually go into our vocational-oriented courses and do well.’’
As a VET provider, TasTAFE traditionally provides training and skills for jobs that already exist, or qualifications that are in demand.
Now, according Mr Conway, the organisation is also heavily investing in courses that foster enterprising and entrepreneurial skills.
‘‘What we are required to do is to ensure we supply the training for where the jobs are, but if you think about that, it leaves a gap for those regional communities or areas of metro Tasmania where there are no obvious employment outcomes,’’ Mr Conway said.
‘‘We know if we give people the right skills and show them how they can take an idea, put it into a marketing plan and take it to market, we can create opportunities for people so they can be much more self determining about their future.
‘‘This is particularly important in times of high unemployment... the best people to create demand are people who have enterprising and entrepreneurial skills, who can go out and find a productive niche in the community.’’
Mr Conway acknowledged that such course offerings could be risky but said it was mitigated by the development of good life skills.
‘‘We might assume that everyone has these skills but the reality is that if you look at small business in Tasmania, which is a very strong part of our economy, there are a lot of failures. When you track those, it is because people didn’t know how to create a product that had value, how to get that product to the consumer, how to monitor their cash flow.’’