The Australian leader of education provider Kaplan Professional has spoken of his delight at the recent moves by
NIBA and
ANZIIF to combine their educational efforts but said the industry still has to do more when it comes to education.
Brian Knight, CEO for Kaplan’s Australian business, said that the moves
announced last week which will see ANZIIF become NIBAs educational provider of choice is good news for the industry and Kaplan itself.
“We think it’s good form them but it’s also good for us, we are delighted because now we become the competitor,” Knight told
Insurance Business.
“I think there are a couple of things in the announcement, that they are just going to combine their education and just have one which I think is probably good as they will be able to focus their resources together.
“I think that is probably good as they probably realised that to succeed with education that they have to be more concentrated and have more focus on it.
“For them, you can see the logic… it is increasingly hard to do both membership and education so I think doing this is a smart move for them.”
At the launch of the collaboration,
Prue Willsford, CEO of ANZIIF, stressed the “very significant revolution” ANZIIF has undertaken when it comes to broker, and wider insurance, education.
“Based on our long engagement with industry and understanding the changing nature of students and the changing nature of education, we have undertaken a very significant revolution which means that while you can still get a qualification, each skill, each competency can be gained in a single unit,” Willsford said.
“They are quite intensive, we have had a number of industry people review them and I am proud to say that one of our clients has just done a global review and genuinely believes that this is the best training available globally in insurance.
“It is very high quality online education and it is supported by a very sophisticated assessment system that is quite unique and valuable.”
Knight said that “there is nothing rocket-science,” in the new approach and praised the new structure as a move forward for Australian broker education.
However, Knight noted that there is still a way to go to increase the professionalism of the industry and called on NIBA and ANZIIF to continue to work on different courses rather than focusing on existing competencies.
“Broker education can be ramped up,” Knight said.
“Just having a course and saying these are the skills, we need to see the professionalism that we are starting to see in others.
“There should be degree pathways and higher upgrading and more focus on the continuing education and what they do.
“I think, for me, I’d like to see us all working on what is the next level rather than just focusing on the fundamental skills, how do we get better and better and make ourselves world class.”
