Extract from Labor Herald
Yet another swipe at Australia’s public institutions leaves little
doubt of the government’s lack of commitment to funding TAFE and
vocational education in the nation’s best interests.
Labor’s shadow vocational education minister Sharon Bird has attacked the latest Abbott-Turnbull government thought bubble on funding the TAFE system.
“The problem with that is TAFE is not just another training provider; it’s our public provider, and it has responsibilities and expectations far beyond what you would expect from a private training provider.”
She said vocational education and training for rural and regional Australians was a key element of TAFE’s value to the wider community.
“So is access for students with a disability, and programs that support Indigenous students which, under the Liberals, would be lost; TAFE would just compete on a race to the bottom with private providers,” Bird said.
“There is a role for private providers and there has been for decades; there are some who have been filling particular roles, with particular expertise in industry sectors.
“The deregulation of fees is a real problem in the way that it is being proposed in this new model.
“We believe the public provider is critically important and we have to stop the attacks from conservative governments at all levels.
“We will remain committed to TAFE; it has delivered very well for communities for many decades and to see it under this sort of threat and potentially lose it, would be to lose a national asset,” she added.
Labor’s shadow vocational education minister Sharon Bird has attacked the latest Abbott-Turnbull government thought bubble on funding the TAFE system.
“TAFE is not just another training provider.”“The funding model makes it very clear that all training providers will be treated exactly the same,” Bird said, “and the federal government would hold the purse strings so training providers would bid for training dollars.
“The problem with that is TAFE is not just another training provider; it’s our public provider, and it has responsibilities and expectations far beyond what you would expect from a private training provider.”
She said vocational education and training for rural and regional Australians was a key element of TAFE’s value to the wider community.
“So is access for students with a disability, and programs that support Indigenous students which, under the Liberals, would be lost; TAFE would just compete on a race to the bottom with private providers,” Bird said.
“There is a role for private providers and there has been for decades; there are some who have been filling particular roles, with particular expertise in industry sectors.
“TAFE has delivered very well for communities for many decades.”“When I talk to them they are horrified by the shonky, unethical activity that is going on as well.
“The deregulation of fees is a real problem in the way that it is being proposed in this new model.
“We believe the public provider is critically important and we have to stop the attacks from conservative governments at all levels.
“We will remain committed to TAFE; it has delivered very well for communities for many decades and to see it under this sort of threat and potentially lose it, would be to lose a national asset,” she added.
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