Save our TAFE Rally - Thursday 16 August, 12noon - State Library of Victoria
This Thursday we're hoping to have our biggest gathering yet in the fight to save TAFE.
There have been great rallies on campuses right around the state. Now we'll meet at the State Library on Thursday 16 August at 12noon and march to Parliament House to raise our voices about the $300 million cut from TAFE, the lost jobs and life chances, the closed courses and campuses.
This is an issue that affects not only TAFE, but higher education as well – as the proposed closure of two of Swinburne’s campuses as a result of the cuts shows. TAFE and universities are more closely linked than ever before. The fight to save TAFE is a fight for quality post-secondary education that should concern all NTEU members.
We need you there - you and your friends, families, colleagues, anyone who believes that TAFE matters.
We've got to show the Government that this issue is not going away. If anything, the passion is growing as people come to understand what these cuts will mean.
Download a rally poster here.
Why this matters
On Tuesday, the ABC's 7:30 investigation showed exactly what this is about.
It showed us the rorts of shonky private providers — making millions giving apprentices no training and faking evidence of their work. It makes pretty shocking viewing.
The scandal wasn't just the waste of money; these apprentices had lost their one chance at affordable training. We heard of one trainee who'd been passed for a Cert III in bricklaying but "couldn't lay a brick". He needs to be completely retrained — but he's lost his one shot at a government-funded place.
The program said that the "demise of ... TAFEs and the rise of private training companies ... could be the biggest crisis in education that this country has ever seen."
The program has since been flooded by messages about dodgy training schemes. There have been two follow-up stories on 7.30 and an investigation by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority.
Numbers matter
If you haven't downloaded our Save TAFE petition do so now, and get as many signatures as you can by next Monday.
Download the petition here, print it off and circulate it among your colleagues, family and friends, then get it back to us.
And if you want to send an email to your local MPs, you can do that too.
Your voices are heard
The latest "Community Voices" post is from TAFE teacher Neil Hauxwell, who explains why access to TAFE can mean the difference between life and death for a vulnerable student.
Please, keep telling your stories. They're such an important way of spreading the word that TAFE is not just about budgets and finance — it's about people's lives.
We need to get students, teachers, business-owners and community members together on this. A thriving TAFE system is central to the economic future of this state. And it means opportunity, hope and employment for thousands of Victorians.
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Branch Contacts
Branch Office
Bdg 93 City Campus
RMIT University
Phone: 03 9925 8062
Fax: 03 9925 8030
nteu@rmit.edu.au
http://www.nteu.org.au/rmit
Melissa Slee
Branch President
melissa.slee@rmit.edu.au
Sam Maynard
Branch Organiser
smaynard@nteu.org.au
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