Louise’s story

20/09/2012 By
Cat

Cat among the pigeons   20 September 2012 We have featured posts from Louise's blog site - A cat among the pigeons - on several occasions because she is characteristic of a certain type of TAFE student - a second chancer going back to learning after a break from the workforce until the kids are at school.  And she writes well - check out her post  A letter to the Premier scored a quite respectable traffic when The Scan reposted it.  Unfortunately, the professional writing course Louise is undertaking at Chisholm in Melbourne's outer southern suburbs has been scrapped from next year and she faces a daily return journey of 2 hours plus to enrol somewhere else. I am a mother of two … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Teaching & learnig, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , ,

TAFE cuts will affect everyone: state governments should think again

20/09/2012 By
Save our TAFE

By Leesa Wheelahan, University of Melbourne TAFE staff are striking today to demonstrate their opposition to unparalleled funding cutbacks totalling almost $300 million imposed by the Victorian State Government. A recent leaked cabinet paper summarising so called “TAFE transition plans” has incited outrage. The plans show that campuses will close, TAFE institutes will merge, at least two thousand staff will be sacked, students will pay higher fees and TAFE institutes will cut provision or close down courses. The Commonwealth government is now threatening to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for vocational education and training. However, the Victorian … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, TAFE Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Moscow on the Molonglo

20/09/2012 By
regulatory-jigsaw

Australian Financial Review    17 September 2012 The phrase “Moscow on the Molonglo” was coined in reference to an era of Coalition industrial and governance intervention in universities and controls on fees and enrolments, writes Glenn Withers, former CEO of Universities Australia. The issue has returned with a vengeance, this time under Labor, as university authorities come to terms with the new regulator – the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) - which universities claim is tying them up in red tape. But TEQSA has been far more nuanced than its  twin in vocational education and training, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), which takes a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, TEQSA Tagged With: , , ,

Sorry Vice-Chancellor, your humanities cuts will hurt La Trobe

20/09/2012 By
La Trobe protest

By Virginia Mansel Lees, La Trobe University   18 September 2012 The cuts to the humanities and social sciences faculty at La Trobe University have been the source of much debate among the academic community, and anger among affected staff and students. This culminated in a stand-off between protestors and Vice-Chancellor John Dewar at the university’s open day last month. But the ensuing fracas has also resulted in various claims and counter-claims being circulated in the press. A case in point is Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar’s recent contribution to The Conversation, in which he made some questionable claims about the state of humanities at La Trobe. Questionable … [Read more...]

Filed Under: L a Trobe University Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Why university staff should care about TAFE cuts

20/09/2012 By
NTEU logo

NTEU Newsroom   18 September 2012 All staff in tertiary education should be concerned about what is happening to TAFE. Why? Here is a summary of the damage so far: More than 2000 jobs (potentially many more) lost At least 18 campuses closed Hundreds of courses cut Massive student fee increases The TAFE cuts are an attack on public education. Although private providers of vocational education and training were the cause of funding blow-outs and quality problems, it is Victoria’s public TAFEs that have borne the brunt of the funding cuts. Contestability of funding, whereby private providers are allowed to compete with TAFE for government funding, allow private … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, National Tertiary Education Union, TAFE, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

TAFE staff urged not to strike

20/09/2012 By

Nine MSN   19 September 2012 Acting Victorian Premier Peter Ryan has urged workers in the TAFE sector not to participate in unprotected strike action on Thursday 20 September. Ryan said the issue with TAFE arrangements has been well publicised. The fact is we need to put it on a sustainable basis.  We were told by the Labor government in 2008/09 that it would cost about $800-$850 million a year to run the sector…In fact it blew out to $1.3 billon.  It is simply unsustainable. Ryan said the strike would impose an enormous cost and discomfort on parents, particularly those with children and  implored people to let the process take its course:  ....I am very very confident that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: AEU, Coalition policies, National Tertiary Education Union, TAFE, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Pow Wow to be deregistered

20/09/2012 By
Pow Wow logo

The Age   20 September 2012 The Australian Skills Quality Authority has rejected an application from Victorian-based Pow Wow Training to renew its registration as a national training provider, registration leaving more than 1000 students to find somewhere else to complete their studies.  Pow Wow offered a wide range of courses from aged care, child care and transport and logistics.  ASQA chief commissioner Chris Robinson said Pow Wow was "critically non-compliant" in meeting quality standards.  Robinson said the company provided inadequate training and employed trainers who lacked the industry skills they needed for the job. In this case there are more than 1200 enrolled students at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , ,

The Scan Main Edition Thursday 20 September 2012

20/09/2012 By
hacket2

Back to the future with workplace agreements? Australian Higher Education Industrial Association president and Curtin University vice-chancellor Jeanette Hacket says she would welcome a return to John Howard-era workplace agreements if it meant more flexibility to respond to student expectations.  She said she also doubted that universities could afford the 7 % annual pay rises being demanded by the National Tertiary Education Union. [Continue … [Read more...]

Filed Under: AEU, ASQA, Australian Academy of Science, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Curtin University, Group of 8, Higher education policy, International, International students, LH Martin Institute, Life & stuff, Qualifications, Quality audits, RMIT, Scan Main Edition, Science, Society, Teaching & learnig, TEQSA, universities, University reform, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are Australian universities being honest with their students?

20/09/2012 By
Uni students

By David Pick, Curtin University Would you like to go to a university where “free thinkers from all over the world come together to make a difference” or, if you like getting to know people, you could go to a university where you can be “networking with today’s leaders of industry”. These are just two examples of the things that Australian universities promise on their web sites to attract students. More or less, these are ads and advertising is often about promoting the positive, downplaying the negative and sometimes stretching the truth a little. But in Australia, there’s an increasing number of graduates holding their universities to account. The Overseas … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Curtin University Tagged With: , , , , ,

Australia’s top uni teachers recognised

20/09/2012 By
Uni teaching

Commonwealth Newsroom   17 September 2012 University staff from 38 universities across Australia  have been recognised for enriching student learning with prestigious Citation Awards from the Commonwealth  Government. The Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans announced the 152 university academics and professional staff to be recognised for developing innovative programs, including new teaching models, to improve student experiences and learning. These Citation Awards re-affirm the crucial role teachers and staff play delivering quality education and improving the student learning experience in Australian universities.  A university education is about more than … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commonwealth policies, Higher education policy, universities Tagged With: , , , ,
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