Media Coverage of TAFE Cuts, 17-19 September 2012
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4266278.html
Arts for a working class man
Paul Livingston, 18 September 2012
Thanks to TAFE, Paul Livingston managed to earn his eke, at times a great deal of eke, as arty eke goes.
Now he finds himself nonplussed to hear that New South Wales has joined Queensland and Victoria to become the third state to introduce major cuts to its TAFE programs.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/09/17/3591610.htm
Advance says no to TAFE merger
By Celine Foenander, 17 September, 2012 12:46PM AEST
The Advance TAFE board has said no to a possible merger with colleges in the Latrobe Valley and Bass Coast.
Advance TAFE chief executive Peter Heilbuth says there are concerns campuses in East Gippsland would be swallowed up by any merger.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2012/09/17/350541_news.html
Merger talk scotched
Nathan Hale | September 17th, 2012
THE Gordon CEO Grant Sutherland has underlined the organisation's commitment to Greater Geelong and dismissed any suggestions of a merger.
Speaking in response to comments in Saturday's Geelong Advertiser from Labor MP Darren Cheeseman, Mr Sutherland said The Gordon had never considered a merger.
Union outraged over proposed campus closure
Posted Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:43am AEST
The Education Union says it is angered by the proposed sale of GippsTAFE's main campus.
A confidential document leaked last week revealed GippsTAFE is considering closing its Yallourn campus and merging it with the Morwell campus.
TAFE teachers set to strike over cash cuts
Benjamin Preiss, September 18, 2012
TAFE teachers and administration staff will strike for 24 hours from Thursday in protest against the state government's funding cuts to the sector.
A document leaked to the media last week showed TAFE institutes were preparing for widespread fee increases and potential mergers and campus closures.
Transition plans threaten integration
September 19, 2012 12:00AM
NORTHERN Melbourne Institute of TAFE is a relatively small player in higher education. Its 30-odd degrees and associate degrees collectively attract barely 1000 of Australia's 1.2 million-plus higher education students.
However, NMIT’s completion rates would be the envy of many research universities, according to CEO Andy Giddy. “We’re seeing retention rates of 70-plus per cent which is higher than you’d expect for the same cohort of students at a university,” he said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-19/tafe-employees-to-walk-off-the-job/4269292?section=vic
TAFE employees to walk off the job
Posted 2 hours 29 minutes ago
The body that represents Victorian TAFE institutions says it will not launch legal action to try to stop a strike by TAFE employees across Victoria on Thursday.
The National Tertiary Education Union and the Australian Education Union have called for all members to stop work for 24 hours and join a rally against government funding cuts of $300 million.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/09/18/3592742.htm
No forced merger for Advance TAFE
By Celine Foenander, 18 September, 2012 3:00PM AEST
Advance TAFE will not be forced to merge with other Gippsland TAFE providers says Victoria's Higher Education Minister.
Peter Hall told ABC Gippsland's Mornings Program his "personal view" was for a relationship to develop between willing participants.
VU taps funds with low-barrier courses
by: Andrew Trounson, September 19, 2012 12:00AM
PETER Dawkins is literally banking on a suite of new low-barrier bachelor degrees from 2014 to shore up demand and boost retention at his beleaguered Victoria University.
It's a plan that would allow VU to make better use of its TAFE teaching to focus academic support for under-prepared students while preserving the entry standards and status of its professional degrees.
It's also a canny cost-shifting solution. By diverting students away from the financially devastated TAFE system and the capped places in sub-degree programs, Professor Dawkins could tap a seam of funding in the uncapped undergraduate market.
Mergers, takeovers in store for TAFEs
by: John Ross, September 19, 2012 12:00AM
A LEAKED summary of Victorian TAFE transition plans reveals a minefield of possible mergers, takeovers and asset swaps, as universities circle TAFEs weakened by market reforms, denial of federal higher education funds and severe state budget cuts in May.
The document, which summarises TAFE strategies to survive the $300 million cuts, covers Victoria's 14 stand-alone institutes and four dual-sector universities as well as a surprise entry from La Trobe University.
Pow Wow goes up in puff of smoke after standards failure
by: Andrew Trounson
September 19, 2012 12:00AM
POW WOW Training will be deregistered from the end of next month after it was found to be "critically non-compliant" with national standards.
That is almost a year after one of its clients, Catering Industries, first complained to the Australian Skills Quality Authority.
But the deregistration comes just weeks after one of its clients, Catering Industries' national training manager Paul Roberts, decided to go public with his complaints by contacting the ABC in August.
On course for TAFE carnage over Baillieu Government funding cuts
Beverley O'Connor, September 19, 2012 12:00AM
IT took a prolonged violent blockade of our city to get the Baillieu Government to the table over problems in Melbourne's building industry - what is it going to take to get a similar sober assessment of a TAFE system in chaos?
Ted Baillieu's Government stands intransigent and isolated in the storm - all players in this three-act drama keeping as much distance as they can from this unfolding tragedy.
Following act one, employers, TAFEs, unions and students have been left dazed and confused about the way forward.
Australian cuts threaten foreign student services
Updated 18 September 2012, 15:22 AEST
Australia's international education market is preparing for another blow with several state governments announcing funding cuts for vocational training programs.
The sector is still recovering after a string of of private collage collapses in recent years and subsequent tightening of regulations and visa rules.
Includes AUDIO LINK
Australian cuts threaten foreign student services
Posted 18 September 2012, 12:13 AEST
Australia's international education market is preparing for another blow, with several states announcing funding cuts for vocational training programs.
State governments in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland have flagged funding cuts that would see teaching jobs lost, courses reduced and campuses closed.
"They are massive cuts, they are basically reducing our revenue by about one third," said the chief executive of Holmesglen TAFE in Victoria, Bruce Mackenzie.
Victoria's TAFE workers to stage stop-work rally over $300m in cuts to the education sector
Evonne Barry, September 18, 2012 12:19PM
Watch news item re Swinburne
THOUSANDS of TAFE workers will stage a mass stop-work on Thursday, in protest of $300 million cuts to the sector.
The Australian Education Union this morning sent an email to members urging them to join a "rally to save TAFE".
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8535205/tafe-teachers-urged-not-to-strike
TAFE teachers urged not to strike
11:16 AEST Wed Sep 19 2012
Acting Victorian Premier Peter Ryan has urged workers in the TAFE sector not to participate in unprotected strike action on Thursday.
The Australian Education Union (AEU) has called on TAFE members to stop work for 24 hours in protest against the Victorian government's $300 million public TAFE cuts.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2012/09/19/351231_news.html
TAFE staff strike
Cameron Best | September 19th, 2012
TAFE teachers and support staff are set to stop work for 24 hours tomorrow in protest against State Government cuts to the public TAFE system.
The Australian Education Union sent an email to all TAFE members yesterday, urging them to join the industrial action.
Branch Contacts
Branch Office
120 Clarendon Street
Victorial TAFE Institution
Phone: 03 9254 1930
Fax: 03 9254 1935
vic@nteu.org.au
http://www.nteu.org.au/tafe
Rachel Neumann
Branch President
rneumann@sunitafe.edu.au
