17th August 2011
Dear Bachelor of Education (Applied Learning) students,
The Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania has recently been made aware of the Tasmanian Teacher Registration Board's (TRB's) decision to allow all teachers working in VET, Tasmania (existing and future teachers) to apply or reapply for provisional teacher registration (Specialist VET) in Tasmania after each cycle of registration.
This decision obviously has the potential to impact upon the market for the Bachelor of Education (Applied Learning).
The Faculty of Education remains committed to offering a contemporary, professional qualification to the teachers in the VET sector. We recognise the important role of the VET sector in education in Tasmania and beyond and believe that VET teachers should be provided with the opportunity through the attainment of educational qualifications, to be considered on equal registration terms with their counterparts in colleges, high schools, primary schools and in early childhood settings. The Faculty offers approved teacher registration courses for each of these sectors and to this end we remain committed to seeking accreditation of the Bachelor of Education (Applied Learning) as an approved program for standard teacher registration.
At this stage, the Faculty has received initial feedback on our application from the TRB and we are currently addressing the points of clarification as requested. This is not that unexpected, given that the Bachelor of Education (Applied Learning) is a very new program and unique within the Australian Education sector. We intend to respond to the TRB's requests, and continue the process of seeking full accreditation and course approval. It is however difficult to estimate how long this accreditation process will take, but we hope that it will be finalised before the end of this year.
In the meantime, the Faculty will continue to fully support your studies in this course. The units of study are approved University units.
As always, please feel free to contact Jill Downing, Co-ordinator and Lecturer in the VET program, with any questions, concerns or feedback. The Faculty will advise you of any developments regarding the Bachelor of Education (Applied Learning) as they occur.
Kind regards
Ian Hay
Professor Ian Hay PhD
Dean of the Faculty of Education
University of Tasmania