Failing the test as quick profits take priority over skilled job needs.

Herald Sun Article 3rd Feb 2021

ASHLEY ARGOON

TAFES are failing to create long-term benefits for students and the economy by churning out courses that prioritise “short-term profit”. A critical review of the skills sector has found a third of Victorian adults have a Vocational Education and Training qualification as their highest learning level. But those learners were paying “widely different fees for courses that don’t always guarantee a good job today, or a ticket into the transformed labour market of tomorrow”.

The report — Skills for Victoria’s Growing Economy — called on the Victorian government to make student payments for VET courses “more standardised, transparent and fair” by bringing in full-fee regulation for all courses not in the free TAFE scheme. As part of that regulation, there would be a cap on fees to stop providers from maximising profits and a floor on a base price to stop the undercutting of fees and reduced quality.

The report said eligibility restrictions should be lifted “as a matter of urgency” on government subsidised training for those whose jobs were hit in the COVID-19 crisis.

It also revealed the pandemic had raised pressures on the sector, as the unemployed sought training to be ready for new jobs, “potentially overloading a strained system”.

Along with several recommendations, modelling found the government could support more than 415,000 new jobs by 2030 through TAFE policy and targeting skills shortages.

The state government said it intended to “consider the findings of the review and respond within the coming months”. Higher Education Minister Gayle Tierney said the report would “play a critical role shaping our efforts to ensure the education and training system delivers the skills Victoria needs”.

More than 300 Victorian stakeholders participated in the review.