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Major concerns have been raised about the training reforms currently being implemented by the Australian government. This article draws on a survey of users of the national training system in Australia to outline the problems that have emerged and to recommend changes to existing implementation arrangements. In general terms, the ‘top‐down’, centrally driven bureaucratic processes are generating strong dissatisfaction among employers, the major clients of the training system. For the training reforms to work effectively in the workplace, business needs to have a much greater capacity to influence how resources are allocated as well as a greater say in how the overall frame work should work. 1994 Australian human Resources Institute (AHRI)

The expanding influence of competence-based education (CBE) through the activities of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) now extends to all levels of the system, including the work of higher education institutions. The NCVQ approach is, however, ill-equipped to deal with education and training beyond the level of basic skills, and is largely irrelevant to the sort of learning that goes on in higher education. A critique of the NCVQ model of CBE is presented and, in place of the behaviourist obsession with performance outcomes, models of learning and development drawn from the cognitive and experiential tradition are recommended for higher education. Educators in this sphere need to maintain an attachment to critical practice and the humanistic tradition in order to resist the narrow utilitarian models of practice represented by CBE strategies. © 1994, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

The ability to manage change has become an essential skill for all managers, particularly those employed within the Health and Social Services. It is recognized that managers may have received an introduction to management concepts and skills within their professional education but require more specific management development. The government approach to adult education with an increased emphasis on vocational training as opposed to professional education (Hyland 1991) has had an important impact upon the theory and practice of nurse management. Nurses are now required to demonstrate, not only the appropriate knowledge and theory of management, but also the competencies necessary to fulfil their role. This is becoming an important dimension of management development programmes. This paper discusses aspects of competency based learning and considers how these concepts are applied to a higher education nurse management programme on ‘Managing Change’. The difficulties experienced in applying vocational standards to professional education within the culture of a higher education will be explored, difficulties identified and some alternatives offered. Copyright © 1994, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved

Special training programs for adolescents handicapped by asthma or allergic diseases are offered in the asthma center 'Asthmazentrum Buchenhohe'. The courses take one month for trying out one occupation, three months for five occupations and one year for those who are not yet mature for apprenticeship. Five workshops are established: metal, electronics, textile, administration, and printing. In addition to vocational guidance and testing of different occupations, medical and psychological diagnostics are performed. Medical service is provided 24 hours, and a hospital with emergency unit is within the area. Though 34,3% of the participants finished school without any qualified graduation after their compulsory school attendance, 70,2% were able to start apprenticeship after the course. In 4,4% we recommended to continue school in order to reach a higher graduation. 119 out of 225 answered a questionnaire evaluating the program and reporting their further occupational progress.

The incorporation of a module of public health teaching into a general practice vocational training programme is described. This programme is itself innovative in that in addition to the 2 years of hospital-based training, it provides 2 years of community-based training. While the curriculum of the public health module is evolving with time, the objectives have remained the same, and are being met. The module has been appraised by external observers, and has been evaluated by participating trainees. The public health module is now an established feature of the Sligo general practice training programme. © 1994 Oxford University Press.

The current, pervasive concern with educational quality arises from a context of pressure for enhanced educational accountability. This pressure derives from the increasing popularity of economic rationalism, in which a premium is placed on efficiency and effectiveness. Educational accountability in terms of these properties requires that assessments of performance be based upon indicators of educational outcomes in terms of educational costs-what is here termed ‘outcomes-driven education’. The influence of outcomes-driven education on educational quality is here examined through a philosophical analysis, from a lifelong education perspective. It is argued that the attainment and maintenance of quality in outcomes-driven education requires the satisfaction of various assumptions with respect to: the specifiability, observability, quantifiability and stability of educational goals and outcomes; the attribution of outcomes to educational events; the appropriateness of consequentialism; the educational efficacy of enlightened self-interest; the progressiveness, flexibility and essentially empowering nature of the framework; and a view of humanity as an aggregation of autonomous individuals working in a mechanistically rational fashion for the egoistic maximization of their individual self-interest. To the extent that these assumptions are not satisfied in the actual practice of outcomes-driven education, educational quality may be diminished through: curricular fragmentation and simplification; the externalization of educational reward; student dependence; and educational conservatism, tokenism, inflexibility, centralization, instrumentalism and functionalism. Outcomes-driven education may thus be dehumanizing and educationally trivializing-encouraging the development of relatively closed, self-serving, bureaucratic systems of education. The fundamental irony of outcomes-driven education is that, while its ideal is the enhancement of excellence, individual freedom, liberation, individuality, plurality, creativity, innovativeness and responsiveness, as a practical approach to lifelong education it may be more likely to result in educational mediocrity, servitude, manipulation, uniformity, conformity, constraint, conservatism and unresponsiveness. © 1994 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

[No abstract available]

Vocational training programs in Nigeria offer hope for providing women with skills to earn income as self-employed workers. The National Open Apprenticeship Scheme provides training for 100,000 boys and girls annually. Women's Vocational Training Centers are being developed in 589 local areas. The Nigerian government and a number of community banks are providing start-up funds for the self-employed. Traditional craft and art forms are being revived in the process. Cooperatives are being established for selling products. Girls find it easy to get married once they are trained. Women are valued for their ability to add to income and in turn are placed in a position to bargain for power in the relationship. It is unknown yet how these schemes will affect fertility. The example is given of Grace Mfon who left a village 500 miles from Lagos in the impoverished, oil-producing state of Akwa Ibom. She is apprenticed with 3 others in a 1-room "Fashion House" to learn tailoring. The 2-year apprenticeship program cost her $38/year, which she saved from her $20/month job. She plans to save for her own shop and get married and have children. She joined the apprenticeship program because of the poor job prospects and the dead end life of farming for her husband. There is both a great need and interest in providing vocational training. The government has been involved in an economic restructuring under the guidance of the International Monetary Fund, and must find work for the hugh number of unemployed workers, many of whom are school dropouts.

Oral examinations have a traditional place in training and evaluation of professionals. Despite a lack of evidence identifying their value in assessment of candidates seeking anaesthetic specialty certification, oral examinations continue to be widely used. Although there is a considerable body of literature concerning oral examinations, there is no description of how this technique is employed in anaesthesia in Canada. The objective of this review is to provide faculty and residents with information concerning the strengths and weaknesses of this format, and the structure of the oral examination as practised in anaesthesia. Reliability of oral examinations can be affected by a number of factors dependent on the examiner, candidate, and the format. Properly constructed and prepared questions have well- defined characteristics. Components tested during the oral examination include: evaluation of a clinical situation, choice of therapy, medical knowledge, ability to deal with emergency situations, decision- making ability, and communication skills. When appropriately planned, the oral examination can be a useful component of the certification process. © 1993 Canadian Anesthesiologists.

Abstract: Patterns of smoking in Western Australia since 1974 were examined using four data sets. Consistency between sets of data was high for adults in the various categories of smoker status. Having established consistency, the patterns revealed by the surveys conducted by the Health Department of Western Australia were examined in more detail. According to these data, prevalence fell from 31.2 per cent in 1984 to 23.9 per cent in 1991 but was still higher among males, at 27.3 per cent, than among females, at 23.4 per cent. Although the sex‐specific prevalence levels were converging, the difference was still significant (P = 0.01). While patterns of smoking in Western Australia generally reflected those in Australia as a whole, some differences were detected. The variation in prevalence according to level of education among women became less pronounced: in 1991, prevalence was 25.5 per cent among women who had completed an apprenticeship or trade certificate compared with 21.7 per cent among women who had undertaken some university studies, the corresponding figures for 1984 being 31.1 per cent and 24.8 per cent. Differences in prevalence among young women between state and national data were also noted. Between 1987 and 1991 the prevalence of smoking among women in the 20‐ to 24‐year age group decreased from 41.2 per cent to 29.0 per cent. This is at odds with findings from the data collected by the Anti Cancer Council of Victoria which indicate that, in 1989, the prevalence of smoking among Australian women aged 20 to 24 years was 37.7 per cent, which was higher than the prevalence in any other male or female age group. 1993 Public Health Association of Australia