Partnerships with other registered training organisations
The Education Reform Act 1990 precludes any institution other than a school or TAFE from offering the HSC. Private and community training providers may, however, deliver vocational courses that contribute to the HSC, if certain requirements are met.
Any private or community training provider which delivers training to school based part-time trainees must be selected from a list of approved providers. This Approved Providers List (APL) specifies private and community training providers approved for delivery of each of the traineeships identified as appropriate for school students. Inclusion on this list will provide assurance that the provider:
- has included the appropriate traineeship in its scope of registration
- has agreed through a formal contract to comply with all requirements set by the Vocational Training Tribunal and the Board of Studies, and to conform with Departmental policies regarding matters such as child protection and duty of care
- has adequate public liability insurance cover for students to attend courses on its premises, and has indemnified the school/school system against any liability for injury to a student at the provider's premises.
Each school is responsible for providing information to the Board of Studies for credentialling of courses delivered by private or community training providers. This includes:
- submission of Locally Designed Courses for endorsement, where required
- student entries
- module or competency data collection forms
- advice regarding 'U' (Unsatisfactory) determinations, where students have not met the HSC course completion requirements.
The school must also notify the private or community training provider of requirements for:
- satisfactory completion of the HSC
- course delivery
- assessment requirements
- reporting and credentialling requirements.
Private and community training providers must advise each participating school in writing as to which modules or competencies have been completed by each student. The student's home school retains responsibility for communicating with the Board of Studies for the purpose of HSC credentialling of the course. Schools should ask private or community training providers to provide written reports to the schools where the student is enrolled once each term.
The Board of Studies has an agreement with TAFE NSW whereby courses delivered and conducted by TAFE are accredited towards the HSC, under the following arrangements:
- where TAFE delivers the whole course, TAFE colleges bear the responsibility for duty of care and report directly to the Board on student entries, module or unit data and 'U' awards;
- where TAFE is delivering only part of the course, the school retains overall responsibility for monitoring course implementation, reporting to the Board of Studies and for duty of care (as outlined above for private and community training providers).