Vocational Education and Training Research Forum

MEDIA ADVISORY – 12 FEBRUARY 2008

Vocational Education and Training Research Forum
Tuesday 5 March
Te Papa, Wellington

How small and medium sized businesses can improve their productivity through practical training will be the subject of a keynote address at the Vocational Education and Training Research Forum in Wellington next month.

Canadian researcher Doug Watt will present findings and insights on his recent research project, Effective Workplace Learning Practices in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. His presentation will focus on practical training responses to critical business issues and will draw on real world examples from workplaces in in Australia, Canada, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland and the United States.

This annual forum organised by the Industry Training Federation provides an opportunity to highlight and promote research on skills, workplace, and vocational education-related topics. Other papers to be presented cover a wide range of areas, including

    * literacy and foundation education;
    * labour market and skill needs analysis;
    * student experiences of vocational education; and
    * vocational education outcomes and outputs.

The Ministry of Education will also be releasing its Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey report: Education and Labour Force Status.

The forum will be opened by the Hon Pete Hodgson, Minister for Tertiary Education, Minister for Economic Development, and Minister of Research, Science, and Technology.

Early bird registrations close on Monday 18 February.  More information is available from:  http://www.itf.org.nz/research-forum-2008.html or from nicholas@itf.org.nz

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