Submitted by NSW Teachers Federation on 24 March 2016
Federation welcomes the introduction of a bill in NSW parliament to guarantee TAFE at least 70 per cent of VET funding and urges Bill Shorten’s federal Labor party to adopt policy that will cap funding for private VET providers.
NSW ALP leader Luke Foley on Wednesday introduced the Technical and Further Education Amendment (TAFE Funding Guarantee) Bill 2016 to “ensure the future health of TAFE in NSW”.
If passed by the NSW parliament the bill would cap contestable VET funding for private providers to 30 per cent. Mr Foley took his party into the last state election with this policy.
“While a 30 per cent cap is NSW ALP policy, which it took to the last state election, we call upon the federal ALP to follow suit and offer the same protection for TAFE,” Mr Mulheron said. The ACTU has also called for a 30 per cent cap on contestable funding.
Fairfax newspapers have reported contestable VET funding in NSW is projected to increase to 50 per cent this year: “A document seen by The Sun-Herald shows direct NSW government funding will be reduced to half of TAFE's income in 2016, according to formal estimates prepared by the department.” In Victoria, 80 per cent of VET funding is contestable, opening up a huge market to private providers and there has been massive rorting of the system by these providers.
Federal Labor this month announced it would mount a review of the VET sector. Vocational education shadow minister Sharon Bird announced the review would be undertaken to “build a stronger VET sector and weed out dodgy providers and student rip-offs”.
In support of TAFE, Ms Bird said there was “abundant evidence that the vocational training sector must be underpinned by a dominant and viable public provider”.
Mr Foley this week told the NSW parliament that while there was a place for the private sector to provide vocational education and training, it was the role of government to ensure there was a strong, affordable and accessible public education system.
“This bill will cap contestable public funding for private education providers at a maximum of 30 per cent. This cap will guarantee that TAFE, the public provider, receives a guaranteed minimum of 70 per cent of public funding, and potentially more. This will ensure the future of TAFE in this State by providing certainty of funding to students and staff.”
The 70 per cent of funding to TAFE will also ensure that the TAFE Commission receives in each of its regions not less than 70 per cent of the funding allocated to vocational education and training courses.
Mr Foley scoffed at the Baird government’s statement that it “believes in TAFE”, saying it had “ripped” $1.7 billion from education and training. Thousands of TAFE teachers and support staff had been sacked. “Those are not the actions of a government that believes in TAFE,” Mr Foley said.
He said the government planned a fire sale of TAFE campuses in Chullora, Epping, Belrose, Scone, Dapto, Vincentia, Maclean, Murwillumbah Corowa, Narrandera and Grenfell.
Mr Foley drew attention to the continuing collapses of private providers who pocketed millions of dollars of taxpayer funds, lured hundreds of impecunious students into debt and now leaves those students facing incomplete courses.
“This week we have seen a major private training provider, Australian Careers Network, file for voluntary administration and just last week Evocca College announced the closure of seven of its campuses in our State. This follows the collapse of Aspire College of Education. So why does the government continue to prioritise private providers above a well-established and proven TAFE model?” Mr Foley demanded.
Federation welcomes the introduction of a bill in NSW parliament to guarantee TAFE at least 70 per cent of VET funding and urges Bill Shorten’s federal Labor party to adopt policy that will cap funding for private VET providers.
NSW ALP leader Luke Foley on Wednesday introduced the Technical and Further Education Amendment (TAFE Funding Guarantee) Bill 2016 to “ensure the future health of TAFE in NSW”.
If passed by the NSW parliament the bill would cap contestable VET funding for private providers to 30 per cent. Mr Foley took his party into the last state election with this policy.
“While a 30 per cent cap is NSW ALP policy, which it took to the last state election, we call upon the federal ALP to follow suit and offer the same protection for TAFE,” Mr Mulheron said. The ACTU has also called for a 30 per cent cap on contestable funding.
Fairfax newspapers have reported contestable VET funding in NSW is projected to increase to 50 per cent this year: “A document seen by The Sun-Herald shows direct NSW government funding will be reduced to half of TAFE's income in 2016, according to formal estimates prepared by the department.” In Victoria, 80 per cent of VET funding is contestable, opening up a huge market to private providers and there has been massive rorting of the system by these providers.
Federal Labor this month announced it would mount a review of the VET sector. Vocational education shadow minister Sharon Bird announced the review would be undertaken to “build a stronger VET sector and weed out dodgy providers and student rip-offs”.
In support of TAFE, Ms Bird said there was “abundant evidence that the vocational training sector must be underpinned by a dominant and viable public provider”.
Mr Foley this week told the NSW parliament that while there was a place for the private sector to provide vocational education and training, it was the role of government to ensure there was a strong, affordable and accessible public education system.
“This bill will cap contestable public funding for private education providers at a maximum of 30 per cent. This cap will guarantee that TAFE, the public provider, receives a guaranteed minimum of 70 per cent of public funding, and potentially more. This will ensure the future of TAFE in this State by providing certainty of funding to students and staff.”
The 70 per cent of funding to TAFE will also ensure that the TAFE Commission receives in each of its regions not less than 70 per cent of the funding allocated to vocational education and training courses.
Mr Foley scoffed at the Baird government’s statement that it “believes in TAFE”, saying it had “ripped” $1.7 billion from education and training. Thousands of TAFE teachers and support staff had been sacked. “Those are not the actions of a government that believes in TAFE,” Mr Foley said.
He said the government planned a fire sale of TAFE campuses in Chullora, Epping, Belrose, Scone, Dapto, Vincentia, Maclean, Murwillumbah Corowa, Narrandera and Grenfell.
Mr Foley drew attention to the continuing collapses of private providers who pocketed millions of dollars of taxpayer funds, lured hundreds of impecunious students into debt and now leaves those students facing incomplete courses.
“This week we have seen a major private training provider, Australian Careers Network, file for voluntary administration and just last week Evocca College announced the closure of seven of its campuses in our State. This follows the collapse of Aspire College of Education. So why does the government continue to prioritise private providers above a well-established and proven TAFE model?” Mr Foley demanded.
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