Media Coverage of TAFE Cuts 28 June - 6 July
TAFE closures to affect economy
BY NIKITA VAZ, 28 Jun, 2012 12:00 AM
JOB losses and possible TAFE campus closures will have a ripple effect through Gippsland's economy, according to Latrobe City Council.
Latrobe City general manager economic sustainability Allison Jones made the comments following a 200-strong community gathering at council headquarters on Tuesday.
Ballarat City Council calls for TAFE cuts details
FIONA HENDERSON, 28 Jun, 2012 11:59 PM
BALLARAT City Council will receive a report into which TAFE, VET and VCAL courses will be cut locally.
The council will also get information on the cuts’ possible impact on skills creation and the flow-on economic effect to Ballarat.
The reports were requested at Wednesday night’s council meeting by Councillor Cheryl Bromfield.
TAFE cuts won’t help shortage of ag workers
29 Jun, 2012 04:00 AM
National Party Member for Northern Victoria Damian Drum’s attacks on student career advisors as “poisoning” students against agricultural courses is nothing short of ludicrous, and a typical “blame someone else” response (The Weekly Times, June 13).
His own party – the Nationals – has failed to support the TAFE sector in regional Victoria, has slashed skills training and made studying agriculture at TAFE unaffordable, or in some cases non-existent, for many regional and rural students.
http://the-scan.com/2012/06/28/ballarat-and-bendigo-tafe-cuts/
Ballarat and Bendigo TAFE cuts
28/06/2012 By intermediatescan
The University of Ballarat and Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE (BRIT) are the latest Victorian TAFEs to announce course closures in the wake of massive government funding cuts, estimated at up to $300 million a year across the sector.
Ballarat, which estimated the cuts would cost it $20 million or 40% of its TAFE funding, will be shedding courses in areas like hospitality, business, arts and equine studies. Under a restructure announced on 26 June much of the university’s vocational training will be concentrated in a new Industry Skills Centre that will cultivate close ties to industry, which will provide training in engineering, manufacturing, automotive, electro-technology, building and construction, plumbing, agriculture, wool, conservation and land management, horticulture, food processing, meat, baking, furniture, hair and beauty and hospitality. The university has opened a voluntary redundancy program but hasn’t put a figure on job losses.
https://ala.asn.au/news/too-much-belly-dancing/
Too much belly dancing
Adult Learning Australia, 22 June
“Too much belly dancing,” is a cry often heard from government as a justification for cutting funding to adult education but at yesterday’s Forum on the Future of Adult and Further Education in Melbourne, presenter Barry Golding said that these kinds of digs at adult learning were a “cheap shot” and displayed a fundamental lack of comprehension at the deeper value that non-vocational or ‘for interest’ courses can bring to our communities.
In 2002, Professor Golding, President of Adult Learning Australia, conducted a project for the ACFE board, researching students of belly dance at the Camperdown Adult Education Centre and found substantial benefits to their health and social cohesion. “Several of the women had moved to the area after significant setbacks in their lives and the belly dancing course provided a place to explore new identities with a wide range of women. In the process of dancing, they talked about their lives in a way that was transformative and that flowed on to their families and the wider community. It also provided a springboard to get more involved in the learning centre and move onto courses that lead to other forms of paid work,” says Golding.
http://www.surfcoasttimes.com.au/news/education/2012/06/28/hope-a-sign-of-the-times/#.T-0jYEd5cqi
Hope a sign of the times
Luke Griffiths, June 28 2012
Kat Shearsby can only hope that Kangan Institute continues with its Auslan courses following state government cuts to TAFE education.
The dreams of an Anglesea student are in tatters following the Baillieu Government’s recent decision to dramatically slash TAFE funding.
No marriage, but a new attitude
by: Adrian Marron & Graham Willcock, July 02, 2012 12:00AM
IS the Victorian TAFE experience inevitable, characterised as it is by a collapse in funding to the public education sector and skewed demand patterns. Central to the Coalition of Australian Governments' national partnerships on skills reform and a more open training market is the need for efficiency in education delivery.
TAFE will need to do its part but it is also the cornerstone upon which the training system is built - get reform wrong and the seismic events that follow will bring into question the essential nature of a public institution.
No bad thing perhaps? There is rationality to competition. With some imagination is it possible to reconcile the need for efficiency in education with the essential nature of a public institution?
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/residents-oppose-tafe-sale-20120701-21axy.html
Residents oppose TAFE sale
Reid Sexton, July 2, 2012
THE Baillieu government is facing calls to halt the multimillion-dollar sale of a TAFE site near Richmond and instead use it to establish a boys' high school.
The large block that houses the Kangan Institute in Cremorne was put on the market late last month after training at the site was transferred to a new centre in Docklands.
http://afr.com/p/national/gillard_training_reform_hit_by_blowout_vEAbNirFBh4jTpIU3wx0jP
Gillard’s training reform hit by blowout
Mathew Dunckley and Joanna Mather, 2 July 2012
Ted Baillieu has warned other premiers that vocational training reforms Prime Minister Julia Gillard has hailed as a model for the rest of Australia have blown out Victoria’s spending by nearly $500 million and produced an avalanche of graduates from “soft” courses that have lured students with free iPads.
In a staunch defence of his government’s unpopular cuts and reshaping of the state’s training budget, the Victorian Premier said that the system was fraught with problems.
http://www.maryboroughadvertiser.com.au/wordpress/?p=6105
Local TAFE campus to stay
By Sam Gowers • Jun 30th, 2012
Bendigo TAFE administrators say that State Government budget cuts will have little impact on its Maryborough campus in the near future.
Despite the announcement earlier this week that enrolments will cease for 39 “non-viable” courses and 100 Bendigo TAFE staff will be made redundant throughout the remainder of the year, administrators say it will make little change to the Maryborough campus, which re-opened its doors earlier this year.
http://www.bendigoweekly.com.au/news/your-tafe-needs-you
YOUR TAFE NEEDS YOU
Rosemary Sorensen | Bendigo Weekly | 29-Jun-2012
BUSINESS and community leaders are speaking out in support of Bendigo TAFE, underlining the importance of the institution to the region’s prosperity.
“You simply cannot be successful in this area without a ready supply of highly trained employees,” Herbert Hermens, chief executive officer of manufacturing, engineering and sales company, Keech, said. “We recognise the value in having ready access to a regionally based, regionally focused training provider.”
http://www.afr.com/p/national/bitter_row_over_cuts_to_tafe_funding_L21rebtCWYhsaBZCPWIdyH
Bitter row over cuts to TAFE funding
Mathew Dunckley, 2 July 2012
Victoria’s efforts to reform its vocational training system have sparked a fierce debate about the role of publicly funded institutions.
Quite apart from cuts to hourly subsidies, the state’s TAFEs are livid at the removal of funding they used to receive to cover specific costs, such as staff wages linked to industrial agreements or delivering government-mandated programs.
http://www.afr.com/p/national/states_watch_victoria_training_disaster_Xp3N7OwKFkFJJSO8W7jkBK
States watch Victoria’s training disaster
Mathew Dunckley, 2 July 2012
Like the infamous, ill-fated Rudd government home-insulation stimulus package, Victoria’s training guarantee may have looked like a good idea in 2009. The credit crunch was morphing into the global financial crisis and forecasts for unemployment were rising.
The then Brumby state government saw an economy shrinking and judged retraining unemployed workers and skilling others to enhance job prospects in a deteriorating environment would be a productive use of public funds.
http://www.scoop.it/t/tafe-education
TAFE Victoria – 29 June
The AEU has advised that state politicians are reporting TAFE cuts from the recent budget cuts as the biggest single issue they are being asked about in the last decade.
There have been over 677 reports in the media about TAFE cuts since March this year. Sue Mandley from the Gordon has set up a very informative site curating any media coverage of the TAFE cuts. Check it out here: http://www.scoop.it/t/tafe-in-victoria?page=1
50 TAFE courses to go
Updated July 03, 2012 09:09:30
The Wodonga Institute of TAFE says 50 courses at the institute will be cut as it continues to deal with Victorian Government funding cuts.
The TAFE expects to lose more than $7 million a year as part of the $300 million in funding cuts to TAFE campuses across Victoria.
TAFE cuts linked to jobs spiral
BY MELISSA CUNNINGHAM, 03 Jul, 2012 12:00 AM
THOUSANDS of Brimbank students could miss out on vocational programs designed to prevent them from dropping out of school as the fallout from TAFE funding cuts continues.
Last month's state government decision to reduce funding to 80 per cent of vocational programs has resulted in jobs being slashed at TAFE campuses across the state.
TAFE funding protest splits Casey Council
BY CATHERINE WATSON, 02 Jul, 2012 04:00 AM
CASEY Council is urging residents to sign an online petition calling on the state government to reverse TAFE funding cuts announced in the state budget.
Casey joins Frankston and Greater Dandenong councils in urging the state government to reassess the cuts, although but councillors are divided on joining the campaign.
Residents can sign the petition at surveymonkey.com/ s/TAFEfunding2012
Kyneton joins axed TAFEs list
BY ANGELA VALENTE, 03 Jul, 2012 12:00 AM
KYNETON'S campus of Bendigo TAFE is the latest casualty in the state government's cuts to public TAFE funding.
Bendigo TAFE chief executive Maria Simpson announced last week the Kyneton campus would close.
In Bendigo, 100 jobs will be axed, including 25 staff who will be made redundant this month, with a further 75 to go by December.
http://afr.com/p/opinion/market_design_fails_to_supply_the_9XX6aATXSHGDY7TUD14zVM
‘Market design’ fails to supply the skills
The Australian Financial Review editorial 3 July 2012
The Gillard government’s voucher-style attempts to make vocational training more demand-driven by allowing students to choose the courses they take is a good idea in principle. The traditional supply-driven system, based around TAFE colleges, is too hidebound by bureaucratic and teacher union rigidities. But as the Victorian experience of the federal government’s reform has shown, arranging the system so that the students do not pay anything is a recipe for disaster. Without a price signal, students will undertake courses for reasons as trivial as simply wanting an iPad being offered to those who complete the course.
http://afr.com/p/opinion/we_need_training_system_that_works_BL4uuK83FcB5KmEKzZdrUJ
We need a training system that works
Innes Willox, 3 July 2012
Despite years of attention from policymakers, persistent and often crippling skills shortages are still frequently cited as the number one constraint facing business.
As this newspaper has so clearly highlighted this week, there’s great concern that changes being introduced in Victoria, before being rolled out nationally as part of COAG reforms, will do little to address skills shortages and may even make the situation worse.
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/07/04/504691_opinion-news.html
Rethink needed on TAFE education
July 4, 2012
A SERIOUS rethink is needed on public education, writes BARRY GOLDING
The recent TAFE cuts announced by the Victorian Government will have a disproportionately high impact on regional communities.
TAFE and its important smaller cousin ACE (Adult and Community Education) have been the most diverse, effective, valuable and widely accessible forms of public adult education and training outside Australia's capital cities.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8493369/greens-push-tafe-funds-in-melbourne-poll
Greens push TAFE funds in Melbourne poll
12:52 AEST Tue Jul 3 2012
Restoring $300 million of TAFE funding is a key policy plank in the Greens' bid for the seat of Melbourne - but candidate Cathy Oke can't yet explain where the cash would come from.
Melbourne voters will go to the polls on July 21 to elect a new state MP to replace Labor veteran Bronwyn Pike.
http://www.peninsulaweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/cuts-hit-rosebud-tafe-hard/2611182.aspx
Cuts hit Rosebud TAFE hard
BY LEE OPITZ, 04 Jul, 2012 04:00 AM
COURSES at Rosebud TAFE - and possibly the campus itself - are under threat as the full impact of state government funding cuts become clearer.
Mornington Peninsula Shire CEO Michael Kennedy said that while the total funding provided to the sector had not reduced, and may have increased in some areas, smaller campuses and their courses were at risk.
Casey Council slams TAFE cut
BY JAMES TAYLOR, 03 Jul, 2012 04:00 AM
LOCAL and federal government representatives have urged the Baillieu government to reverse its $300million cuts to the TAFE sector.
La Trobe MP Laura Smyth put forward a motion in Federal Parliament condemning the cuts made in the May state budget.
In Casey, the council has invited residents to sign an online petition.
To sign the council's petition, visit casey.vic.gov.au/ advocacy
http://www.facebook.com/events/411953532181450/
Save TAFE Ballarat Community Forum
On Sunday 8th July a meeting will be held at Trades Hall, 24 Camp St, Ballarat at 2pm for all people interested in opposing the cuts to TAFE provision and education and training in our region. Everyone is invited, if they want to listen, if they want to speak or if they want to become actively involved.
REMEMBER - SUNDAY 8TH JULY 2pm, BALLARAT TRADES HALL CAMP STREET - PUBLIC MEETING TO SAVE TAFE. All are invited, we will meet in the hall for guest speakers, questions and answers and the formation of a Public Committee to fight on. We have already saved courses and jobs, we must keep fighting to save TAFE and save our children’s future in regional Victoria - PLEASE COME ALONG ONE AND ALL. No Taxation – Without Education!
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/07/04/503771_national-news.html
Knife to TAFE ag course
Chris McLennan | July 4, 2012
Are Government TAFE cuts fair? VOTE NOW
BENDIGO TAFE has cut several of its agriculture training courses. And other tertiary training bodies are expected to follow suit.
"The Government's funding priorities have changed, we had no choice but to cut the courses," a TAFE spokesman said.
http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/95260/tafes-pain-not-too-severe/?src=rssws
TAFE’s pain not too severe
By BRAD WORRALL, July 3, 2012, 11 p.m.
WODONGA TAFE has ditched 50 courses and nine staff won’t be replaced, as the Victorian budget cuts take hold.
But the tertiary education provider yesterday said many of the courses would have been shelved anyhow and the job losses were likely to be offset by new opportunities.
Training providers accused of just "following the money" as vocational training fails to meet industry needs
Cara Waters, Tuesday, 03 July 2012 12:21
Industry groups have voiced their concerns that other states and territories will follow Victoria's lead by rolling out student demand-driven vocational training systems, leading to an oversupply in areas like personal training and undersupply in other areas.
Victoria has curbed its voucher-style system in response to ballooning budgets and students attaining qualifications of little value to employers, but other states are set to adopt a similar model after an agreement signed with the Federal Government in March.
Baillieu’s TAFE cuts leave students out in cold
COLIN CLEARY, EPSOM, 03 Jul, 2012 04:00 AM
Is it not time that the conservative parties realised that education is an investment and not recurrent expenditure?
And none is more guilty in this failure than the Baillieu government, which has gone to even greater extremes than usual, with the damage inflicted on TAFE institutions.
As with the daft plan to “exit” (sack) five per cent of teachers, this is an another example of its leaders seeming to lack the capacity to think issues through.
Opportunity knocked with vocational collapse
BY MELISSA CUNNINGHAM AND BENJAMIN MILLAR
04 Jul, 2012 12:00 AM
THOUSANDS of Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay students could miss out on vocational programs designed to prevent them from dropping out of school in the latest fallout from TAFE funding cuts.
The state government decision to reduce 80per cent of vocational program funding has meant job losses at TAFE campuses, including at least 60 positions at Victoria University.
http://www.easymix.com.au/mildura/index.php/news/30121-sunitafe-staff-working-again
SuniTAFE Staff Working Again
Thursday, 05 July 2012
SuniTAFE workers made redundant are working again.
Fairfax has reported nearly all whose jobs were axed because of state government funding cuts have found employment elsewhere, with two of the staff redeployed within SuniTAFE.
The official finishing date for redundant staff is July 13.
Let’s talk facts about vocational training
PETER HALL MLC, MINISTER FOR HIGHER EDUCATION AND SKILLS, MELBOURNE
06 Jul, 2012 04:00 AM
Although much has been written and said about changes to funding for the state’s vocational education and training (VET) system, the one fact that has been missed is that the Victorian Coalition Government has actually committed more, not less, funding for training over the next four years.
When the former Labor government introduced the current uncapped demand-driven system in 2008 – with full implementation beginning in 2011 – little did they imagine the massive cost blowout they would trigger and the proliferation in training providers competing with TAFE institutes for government funding.
http://www.awnw.com.au/tafe-pain/
TAFE pain
FEES will rise significantly, jobs will be lost and fewer courses will be offered at Wodonga TAFE as a result of government funding cuts.
About $7m has been slashed from the institute’s budget, and while CEO Michael O’Loughlin is keen to play down the impact, he says it will affect how the TAFE is run.
Interpreter shortage concerns
BY NIKITA VAZ
05 Jul, 2012 12:00 AM
HEARING-impaired Gippsland residents may face communication barriers following the closure of Victoria's only Diploma Auslan course.
Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE will follow Melbourne's Kangan Institute's decision to cease enrolments on its Auslan diploma course, on the grounds of "lack of funding".
Community right to be outraged over TAFE cuts
05 Jul, 2012 04:00 AM
Most agree that the Baillieu-Ryan government TAFE cuts are shocking. These cuts are having a huge impact on jobs and skills in central Victoria.
With last week’s BRIT announcement that 100 jobs will go, courses will be cut and the BRIT Kyneton campus will close, central Victorians have a right to be angry. Yet the effects of this government’s changes go beyond these cuts.
Guidelines under microscope
BY NIKITA VAZ, 02 Jul, 2012 12:00 AM
THE State Government has denied claims its transition plan guidelines for TAFEs are too "stringent".
Following the government's announcement of its restructure to the vocational training sector, Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE plans to submit a government-initiated report on its transition to the new structure.
http://www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/news/local/news/general/tafe-left-high-and-dry/2612690.aspx
TAFE left 'high and dry'
BY NIKITA VAZ, 02 Jul, 2012 12:00 AM
WHAT was once a classroom filled with business students at Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE now stands empty.
GippsTAFE shut its doors to its retail division at its Morwell campus last week, and team leader of delivery Terry Sumner believes the institute will face further challenges down the road.
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
