Page 16 - Climate Control News Magazine Feb 2021

In Focus
Open letter to industry to strengthen RAC trade
AUSTRALIA’S VOCATIONAL EDUCATION SECTOR IS SEEKING SUPPORT FROM THE HVACR INDUSTRY TO DEVELOP
A CONSISTENT NATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW TRADE QUALIFICATIONS.
LEFT: A final year apprentice on the job servicing an AC unit.
isolation creating a lack of consistency which was a “complete waste of time and resources”.
“This time RAC teachers from across the na- tion are working together to assist in the pro- duction of a consistent and valid set of assess- ment tools we can all use,” he said.
Work on the project has already commenced thanks to the generous support of STC.
Smith said the scope of work entails the pro- duction of approximately 450 documents for 42 units of competence contained within the new trade course (UEE32220).
“This is expected to take at least 12 months to complete,” he said.
While the STC has initiated the project, the organisation cannot be expected to carry the full financial burden as the final product will be
“WE ARE SEEKING
TO ESTABLISH AN OPEN DIALOGUE WITH INDUSTRY.” – RACTA VICE CHAIR, STEVE SMITH.
made freely available to other training organi- sations that deliver the RAC trade course.
“Of equal significance to developing a con- sistent product is industry validation. This is a vital process that seeks to build the industry’s confidence in the benchmarks being set by the training organisation,” Smith said.
“There needs to be a mechanism in place for the RAC industry to provide input into the tools that will be used to assess their apprentices.”
In the open letter the Alliance calls on indus- try to provide support by being a member of the Industry Validation Committee.
“This committee will be tasked with review- ing the assessment tools as they are produced,” the letter said.
“We are seeking open dialogue with anyone interested in sponsoring the production of one or more units of competency.
“It includes the placement of your company name on the assessment documents you have sponsored.”
Smith said the Alliance would also like to take this opportunity to thank Refrigerant Re- claim Australia (RRA) for the generous support the organisation has provided, enabling teach- ers to meet on a regular basis to strengthen the training provided to the RAC trade.
Anyone interested in participating and sup- porting can contact Steve Smith on:
steve@stc.nsw.edu.au
A NEW VERSION of the Electrotechnology Certificate III in Air Conditioning and Refrig- eration trade course has recently been endorsed for national use, with a final implementation date set for October 2022.
To ensure the implementation of the new course is consistent across the entire country, assessment tools are being developed by a rep- resentative group of refrigeration and air condi- tioning (RAC) teachers known as the RACTA (Training Alliance).
Currently the Alliance has 67 members rep- resenting RAC teachers from both public (TAFE) and private Registered Training Organ- isations (RTOs).
In an open letter to industry the Alliance called for a working relationship with industry to ensure the final course has the competencies needed for a skilled workforce.
Alliance vice chair and education relation- ship manager at the Superior Training Centre (STC), Steve Smith, said this is a unique oppor- tunity for industry and it is also a ‘first’ for Aus- tralia’s vocational education sector.
Smith said every training organisation that delivers this course must demonstrate that they possess the relevant assessment tools prior to training students.
In the past, he said teaching staff within every training college across the nation would work in
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
16