New data from the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) has found more people are studying in areas of economic priority for South Australia than the previous year.
The NCVER Government Funded Students January–June 2024 report covers government-funded vocational education and training (VET) activity figures for the first six months of 2024.
Overall, there were 55,520 government funded VET students, an increase of 855 places or 1.6%. There are also significantly more VET students – more than 7,100 – than there were five years ago in 2019.
“Having students enrolled and taking up critical training places is important for the growth of South Australia’s economy. It is encouraging to see the increase in training aligned to our state’s priority areas,” said Skills Commissioner, Cameron Baker.
“It’s especially encouraging to see the number of secondary students, Aboriginal students, individuals living with a disability and those from regional and remote areas in training continuing to rise. Ensuring equitable access to training for all South Australians is essential for building an inclusive and skilled workforce.
“I’m also pleased to see the continued increase in the number of completions. While commencements are important, we will only start addressing areas of critical workforce shortages if we continue to see completions rise.”
The report states there were more program enrolments, an increase of 1.4% or 815 to 57,970, and more subject enrolments, an increase of 7.8% or 23,115 to 320,690 – which is 9.6 percentage points above a national decline of 1.8%.
The number of course enrolments aligned to Government priority areas, including education and care, construction, defence and manufacturing and clean energy, increased by 6.8% compared to 2023, said Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Blair Boyer.
“It’s really heartening to see the rise in vocational students this year particularly in the areas of priority that are critical to growth in South Australia,” said Mr Boyer.
“At a time where we have skills shortages in construction, care and education, and unprecedented growth in defence, renewables and tech and AI, there are genuine and fulfilling job opportunities for South Australians who choose vocational education and training.
“That’s why the State and Commonwealth Governments have committed unprecedented levels of funding towards bolstering our state’s VET sector – including a $2.3 billion joint investment through the National Skills Agreement.”
For South Australia, there were increases in the number of VET students:
- Attending secondary school: up by 15.4% to 7,655 – the third highest percentage increase in the nation;
- Under 24 years old: up by 7.5% to 24,780 – the second highest percentage increase in the nation;
- Reporting a disability: by up 7.4% to 4,795 – the third highest percentage increase in the nation;
- From regional and remote areas: up by 4.6% to 14,915 – the third highest percentage increase in the nation;
- Studying a Certificate III level course: up by 3.6% to 28,795 – the fourth highest percentage increase in the nation;
- Identifying as Aboriginal: up by 2.6% to 2,570 – the fifth highest percentage increase in the nation;
- Unemployed: increased by 1.4% to 8,745 – above the national average increase of 0.9%.
There were 27,460 VET students attending TAFE, an increase of 4.2% or 1,110 more students. The rise aligns with the Fee-Free TAFE initiative that started in early 2023.