Qld: Newman threat to TAFE

From ABC News

The Queensland Government is facing widespread criticism over a report recommending half of its TAFE campuses be closed.

Queensland is the latest conservative-led state to flag major changes to its vocational education system.

The State Government says it's looking at ways to rationalise the system and manage the state's lack of skilled workers.

Education unions say if the recommendations are implemented students will end up paying more.

Stephanie Smail reports.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: The TAFE report says campuses are outdated, poorly maintained and inefficient.

It says 13 of the state's 80-plus colleges are currently empty, others have very few students and about half should be shut.

Earlier this year, state and territory governments signed a trade training deal with the Commonwealth. For improving vocational education and boosting the numbers of students trained, they were promised millions of dollars in additional federal funding.

But since then $300 million has been cut from TAFE in Victoria and New South Wales has flagged major overhauls.

Pat Forward is from the Australian Education Union.

PAT FORWARD: All of the Federal Government reforms are now set in the context of state governments which are showing no appetite whatsoever to maintain a public TAFE system and who are in fact jeopardising the future of the many, many hundreds of thousands of young Australians who go to TAFE for some prospect of a decent vocational education and training.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: In Queensland the teachers' union says students in regional areas will be the most vulnerable if campuses are closed.

The union's Kevin Bates says TAFE teaching staff haven't been consulted.

KEVIN BATES: It's not something you would expect any government to undertake without having key stakeholders sitting around the table. And when teachers and educators haven't been included in that task force then there is a real concern that the content of the report won't necessarily capture all of the concerns and aspirations of an important stakeholder in the education process.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: The report says low priority training should be dropped in favour of skills that would help boost the state's economy like agriculture and tourism.

Pat Forward is calling on the Federal Government to withdraw its funding from the states if they don't change their approach.

PAT FORWARD: Minister Evans must step in now. He must make it clear that these state governments stand to lose the many billions of dollars worth of funding that the Federal Government puts into the system unless they act quickly and decisively and stop this process of just destruction of the public TAFE system in these three states.