It will be some time before we know the full extent of school and workplace closures will have on today’s students. However, it is clear that the disruption caused by COVID restrictions has put them at a disadvantage. Since the start of the epidemic many peoples professional and academic lives have been put on hold. Business’s ability to take on interns and apprentices has waned due to loss of business and employees not being able to be in the office. In the wake of this, more students than ever are turning from long term University degrees, which will lead to an internship and eventually a job, to learning at career colleges.
Whereas university degrees provide an indication of the student’s ability to comprehend information and carry out workloads generally, career colleges directly train them for a profession. This reduced time frame between studying and working has been enticing to students who now have more competition and less opportunity than ever. However, what was historically lacking for career colleges has been trust in their qualifications and standards of teaching. Quality assurance organisations have come into the spotlight as being more needed than ever to ensure that these career colleges provide the same quality of teaching as government owned institutions.
The IAPCC stands for The International Association of Private Career Colleges. It is a non-profit global industry association which represents private post-secondary schools, institutes and colleges that provide career-specific educational programs. IAPCC serves as the global umbrella membership organizations around the world. Its members include the New Era Institute (Burwood, Australia), National Education Academy – School of Celebrancy (Melbourne, Australia), Body Sense Massage School (Toorak, Australia), Aerostar Jet Training Academy (Gujarat, India), Health Inheritance School of Allied Health (Lagos, Nigeria), Professional Design Institute (Dubai, United Arab Emirates & Kowl, Hong Kong), International School of Veterinary Nursing (Hawthorne, Australia) and The Interior Design Academy (Sydney, Australia).
Speaking on behalf of the IAPCC, Executive Director, Vincent Bayer said:
“The pandemic has changed education forever. We have witnessed a distinctive rise in online learning across all education institutions. Adoption of education via distance has been thrust upon the education sector at such a rapid rate. This increases the demand for bolstering quality assurance mechanisms as content is being developed at accelerated rates. Operating at such short notice is something educators are not accustomed to. Schools are forming partnerships and obtaining institutional memberships of industry bodies such as IAPCC to assist with this journey.”
The IAPCC is a non-profit organisation and was established in 2013, when several vocational schools decided an association was needed. It provides a code of ethics to ensure that the career colleges under its umbrella adhere to a set of standards necessary to be a trusted education provider. They encourage the development of education development, act as a liaison between the independent career colleges, local governments and political jurisdictions and promote the welfare of the students across its member colleges. They also collect statistical information and disseminate information to other organisations and government bodies. Their Excellence in Student Services Award program recognizes and encourages member schools who operate an outstanding student services program.
