When visiting Bega, Labor Senator Doug Cameron voiced his concerns about the future of TAFE.
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“The broader issue is that we’ve seen the market approach, the competitive approach, the privatisation of the VET system fail across the country,” Shadow Minister for Skills Senator Cameron said on Wednesday.
While there were some good private providers, he said, there were others such as Careers Australia which was placed into voluntary administration last year after it was stripped of federal funding due to dismal completion rates and aggressive recruitment practices, leaving teachers without employment and students without an education.
Senator Cameron said TAFE ran the more expensive courses that required maintenance of equipment such as metalwork, while private providers were able to run cheaper courses.
“It’s an unfair advantage,” he said.
Construction has started on the $7million connected learning centre (CLC) which is being built at the site of the old Bega District Hospital and is part of the NSW government’s plan for the future of TAFE in the region.
It has left some concerned about what will happen to the current campus in Bega.
Deputy secretary of the NSW Teachers Federation Maxine Sharkey said she had seen many CLCs and the ones that functioned well were still part of the TAFE college.
“Only two haven’t become part of the TAFE college and in both those cases the college closed,” she said.
A forum had been held on TAFE in Bega on Tuesday, with TAFE organiser for the Illawarra Rob Long saying the maintenance of the campus was a concern raised.
“The demountables are not being maintained at all. The teachers are questioning why they are spending $7million on a building offsite when there are huge maintenance requirements here,” Mr Long said.
Labor’s candidate for Bega Leanne Atkinson said there was a problem with moving teaching online, which would happen at the CLC.
“Not all learners learn online, a lot of people need that face-to-face interaction,” she said.