Extract from ABC News
By national education and parenting reporter Conor Duffy
The biggest higher education reform in decades is set to pass its first test — a Coalition party room vote — after social work and psychology were cut from the list of humanities courses set to have fees doubled.
Key points:
- The proposed university reforms, introduced in June, will make subjects such as nursing, languages and science cheaper but degrees, such as communications, law and humanities more expensive
- The Government is set to introduce the reforms on Wednesday, but has made some concessions
- The 'job-relevant' reforms have faced criticism, with some students and teachers vowing to strike
Introduced in June, the Federal Government's "job-ready graduates" program is designed to equip the tertiary sector for post-pandemic employment needs by using a carrot and stick method of reducing fees for some courses, while increasing fees for others.
The reforms, which yesterday triggered hundreds of teachers and staff to join a virtual grassroots organising committee vowing illegal strike action, will likely be introduced in the house on Wednesday.
But the reforms face a tougher task in the Senate, where the program needs critical votes from crossbenchers.
Education Minister Dan Tehan declined to comment on the grounds the matter was going to a partyroom vote.
However, the ABC understands Coalition backbenchers returning home to electorates and hearing about concerns over access to mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic led to the partyroom change.
It is understood social work and psychology will both be taken out of the most expensive band, band 4, where humanities sit, and into band 2.
How much students can expect to pay:
| Discipline | Annual cost | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teaching, clinical psychology, English, maths, nursing, languages, agriculture | $3,700 |
| 2 | Allied health, other health, architecture, IT, creative arts, engineering, environmental studies, science | $7,700 |
| 3 | Medical, dental, veterinary science | $11,300 |
| 4 | Law & economics, management & commerce, society & culture, humanities, communications, behavioural science | $14,500 |
One of the senators the Federal Government will need to convince, independent Rex Patrick, said the latest changes were not enough.
He said wanted to see an inquiry into the proposal — which the Government would likely try to avoid.
"They have been presented without much evidence as to the effect they will have in the long term," Senator Patrick said
"I think a lot of students make their choices based on an affinity for a particular topic.
The fee hikes, as well as the absence of a comprehensive rescue package for the sector that is expected to haemorrhage between $3 billion and $4.6 billion in revenue this year, has parts of some campuses in revolt.
Yesterday, hundreds of teachers and staff joined a virtual grassroots organising committee and vowed illegal strike action.
"The kind of strike we want to work towards is one that is massively participated in and we think that if that’s the case then it's going to be very difficult for either employers or the government to go after us," Nick Reimer, who helped organise the meeting, said.
The group, formed in an ad-hoc fashion and known as the National University Staff Assembly, called on management and unions to be more assertive with the Government.
"Vice-chancellors have completely failed to defend the interests of higher education in this country for decades now. They've been complicit with government's attempts to rip millions of dollars out of the sector," Dr Reimer said.
Students join the barricades
Varsha Yajman, a first-year arts and law student, has organised her own group called the Students Against Fee Increases.
She will not have her fees increased as the reforms are not retrospective, but said it was unfair for the next crop of students.
"Being an arts-law student myself and having some new friends in a similar degree or course, that's the biggest motivating factor for me," Ms Yaiman said.
COVID-19 has meant the students have had to organise virtually and they are pushing videos onto social media to try and gather momentum for a bigger funding increase.
"Even at the moment coming out of a recession or going into a recession depending on the coronavirus pandemic, just keeping the fees as they are would be the minimum we expect," she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment