GOVERNMENT AGENDA TO BLAME FOR UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE VET PROGRAM TRANSFER
7 June 2005
The decision by the University of Melbourne to shed its regional campus-based VET programs in the Faculty of Food & Land Resources (ILFR) is a result of the Howard Government’s higher education ‘reforms’ that make the university’s economic ‘bottom line’ more important than its educational and social obligations in regional communities, NTEU Victorian Division Secretary Matthew McGowan said today.
“The Howard Government’s changes to higher education are transforming universities from public institutions to corporate entities where making a profit comes before their obligations to teaching and research, and the often important social roles they fulfil in the community.”
“We’re pleased that the University has decided to find suitable alternative providers for its current VET courses, as opposed to its initial decision last October to simply close its regional campuses,” Mr McGowan said.
“These campuses play a major role in attracting and keeping skilled people in the regions, and generate significant local economic returns. A decision to cut back or close any of these campuses would result in job losses, reduced opportunities for young people especially to access higher education, and substantial negative economic impacts on the communities in which these institutions are based.”
Mr McGowan said that this is an example of a major Victorian university seeking to shed aspects of its operations that are deemed unprofitable, despite their social importance.
For further information and comment:
Matthew McGowan NTEU Vic Division Secretary 0417 054 110
Michael Evans NTEU Communications Officer 0418 241 664