The New Zealand Qualifications Authority will register micro-credentials from the end of the month.

“As the nature of employment and education continues to evolve, it is expected that developing up-to-date skills will become an important way to improve and future-proof the employability of individuals and support the productivity of the workforce. The introduction of a micro-credential system will help ensure that the New Zealand education and training system remains relevant in a period of fast paced social, economic and technological changes,” NZQA states.

“NZQA expects that micro-credentials will augment the formal qualification system, but also anticipates that over time employers and learners may well become increasingly comfortable valuing shorter modules of learning.”

This is the shape of things to come which over-time will be a real threat to universities and VET  which stick with traditional course structures. “Micro-credentials should, in the first instance, focus on responses to skill and knowledge gaps not currently catered for in the tertiary education system.”  The key words are “first instance”.