Internationally

• The National Skill Standards Board in the United States has support from General Motors for a new voluntary system of skill standards, assessment and certification. Core standards to cover nearly 40% of the American workforce will be in place by the end of this year.
• Washington's independent Career Pathways Report says a start is about to be made on the new National Assessment of Vocational Education. This federal initiative will focus on vocational education in high schools, providing linkages between secondary and post-secondary education, integration of academic and vocational education, and career pathways rather than entry-level skills.
• International interest in New Zealand's qualifications system continues. Two Danish delegations have visited recently and Framework Registration Manager Brent Richardson was a keynote speaker at a qualifications framework conference in Namibia.
• Many New Zealand consultants and the Engineering, Food and Manufacturing ITO have been helping a number of agencies in Fiji to adopt standards based training. The Qualifications Authority has been in Niue and the Cook Islands dealing with school accreditations.