The Australian Education Union today slammed the announcement of a Coalition plan to spend hundreds of millions on a small number of technical colleges at the same time as slashing funding for TAFE.
AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said the proposed technical colleges are no substitute for the TAFE funding the Coalition has said they will cut, or the public schools they should be investing in.
“We already have a world-class network of technical colleges - they’re called TAFEs - and Peter Dutton will slash the funding for them by axing the free TAFE program,” Ms Haythorpe said.
“Instead of reinvesting in the proven institutions we already have, Peter Dutton is proposing a handful of technical colleges that won’t deliver a single course for years and will drain public money away from where it’s needed most.”
“This is the same Coalition that axed a Labor Government program to deliver trades training centres in secondary schools across the nation. The same Coalition that axed capital funding for public schools in 2017 while promising private schools $1.9 billion over a decade.”
“Investing in TAFE and public schools is the immediate answer to improving the skills and education young people receive, not trying to reinvent the wheel via a small number of technical colleges that will cost hundreds of millions and will open the door once again to privatisation of VET by stealth.”
Ms Haythorpe highlighted that this latest proposal echoes the failed Howard-era technical college initiative, which saw hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars wasted.
“This announcement shows the Coalition hasn’t learned from past mistakes,” Ms Haythorpe said.
“The Howard Government’s technical college program was expensive and an unnecessary duplication of existing resources with colleges taking years to establish and some struggling to attract students.”
“That program saw 21 colleges built by 2007, most of which were located in marginal electorates held by the Coalition, at a cost of $315 million, with only 1,300 students enrolled - an expensive failure.”
Ms Haythorpe said this last-minute election announcement showed the Coalition has no understanding or insight or into what is needed to upskill students for the future.
“If Peter Dutton truly cared about the skills crisis or giving young Australians the best start in life, he’d be investing in TAFE and public schools, not trying to reinvent the wheel with yet another half-baked project that benefits few and helps delay real reform.
“To address the skills crisis, we need sustained investment in public education through schools and TAFE, both of which are proven to deliver the high-quality, accessible educational opportunities that Australians need now, not years down the track.
“TAFE is the most cost-effective way for governments to deliver the vocational skills our country needs. It must be backed by governments to do so”
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