The Australian | 14 November 2013
The Victorian government will restrict access to remedial training for adults, claiming that VET colleges are lining their pockets by
enrolling students unnecessarily.
But the Australian Education Union says new funding arrangements could strip almost $30 million from TAFEs, which are already reeling from a $290m cut last year.
The AEU says the government plans to squeeze funding rates for educationally struggling adults by up to 20%. Victoria already has Australia’s highest proportion of adults with poor literacy, with a recent report assessing 16% of Victorians at the lowest level.
TAFE secretary Pat Forward said the cuts would have “an immediate and direct impact” on some of the most vulnerable students:.
Victorian TAFEs have been cut to the bone and it is difficult to see what more they could do.
Skills minister Peter Hall has refused to rule out cuts to funding rates. He is expected to announce that funding for foundation training, which includes courses in adult literacy and numeracy, youth re-engagement and English as a second language, will be restricted to colleges on an approved provider list.
The government will also strengthen contract requirements to ensure colleges only provide foundation training that is “relevant and necessary”.
In a statement provided to The Australian, Mr Hall says his department has identified “insufficient evidence of student need and ‘bending the rules’ by training providers to maximise government subsidies”.
“People who already have highly developed literacy, numeracy and workplace skills should not be put through unnecessary foundation courses,” the statement says.
It cites evidence of learners taking multiple foundation courses without gaining the skills they need, and colleges using foundation training to teach regular vocational skills.
Foundation training enrolments in Victoria more than doubled last year.
Reports of rorting have plagued Victoria since the open training market was introduced in 2009. While they have primarily concerned private colleges, TAFEs are increasingly being implicated, with some advocates saying they are being forced to bend the rules to survive
