The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance’s (ANZIIF) new training courses will be conducted entirely in virtual classrooms as the institute responds to the industry’s changing educational needs.

“We’re changing the way education is done in insurance,” CEO Prue Willsford said last week.

“Instead of traditional ‘talk and test’ learning, where the focus is on short-term memorisation, we’re using explorative methods of teaching to ensure students truly understand the concepts they’re studying and can directly apply that knowledge to the workplace.”

The new training regime follows an agreement struck last year with the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) to shake up broker education in Australia.

Under the agreement, NIBA College ceased offering services last week and ANZIIF becomes NIBA’s preferred supplier of broker education.

More than 140 units will roll out over the next 18 months. Each module takes an average of 4-6 weeks to complete and costs $375.

“In consultation with the industry we identified issues that organisations felt weren’t served by traditional education offerings,” Ms Willsford said.

“Namely, that the competencies taught in existing education options weren’t aligned to what the industry actually needed, and that study took too long in a market where the ability to adapt quickly is crucial.

“With traditional development pipelines being eroded, the industry told us it needed a way to fill talent gaps and upskill employees in a timely and effective manner.”