SA Government’s plan for an ‘Education City’ must be transparent
April 6, 2006
The South Australian Government’s plan to market Adelaide as an ‘international education city’, including reports it is encouraging two British universities to establish campuses in the city, must be transparent and support and integrate the State’s three existing public universities, the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) said on Thursday.
“It is important that the South Australian Government clearly articulates the benefits of encouraging more offshore universities to establish campuses in Adelaide, both to taxpayers and the State’s three existing public universities,” said Andrew Nette, NTEU Policy and Research Coordinator.
“While the South Australian Government may choose not to release every facet of its negotiations with offshore universities, commercial in confidence considerations should not be used to shroud the entire process in secrecy and prevent the public and interested parties in the higher education sector from being consulted.”
“The Union would also like to know what role the State’s three existing universities will play in plans to establish Adelaide as an ‘international education city’, aside from providing facilities and staff for their offshore counterparts.”
“At the same time as it announces plans to woo two British universities to set up shop locally, the South Australian Government still refuses to publicly release details relating to the application by the private US Carnegie Mellon University to operate as a foreign owned university in Adelaide.”
“The decision to allow Carnegie Mellon to operate has significant implications for South Australia’s existing public universities.”
“This included nearly $20 million in South Australian tax payer subsidies to Carnegie Mellon, an amount which reports in the South Australian press in January claimed has already blown out by an additional $3.7 million.”
“Previous applications by institutions to operate as universities in Australia have been assessed by a rigorous and transparent process, which has included the full disclosure of documents relevant to the application and consultation with interested groups in the sector.”
“Open and transparent community consultation is a key part of Australia’s strong university accreditation standards, on which the reputation of our higher education system rests.”
“The NTEU hopes that the South Australian Government's decision to assess Carnegie Mellon's application in secret does not set a precedent for how they will treat other applications by offshore universities,” said Nette.
Information and Comment:
Greg McCarthy, NTEU South Australian Division President: (08) 8303 5155
Andrew Nette, NTEU Policy and Research Coordinator: (03) 9254 1910