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: , , , , , ,

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: , , , , ,

Back to the future with workplace agreements?

20/09/2012 By
Hacket

Australian Financial Review 17 September 2012 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. The view would be very much at this stage that enterprise agreements are significantly slowing down our capacity to be flexible.  It’s hard to see that Australian higher education will be able to compete globally, both in terms of financial … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, Curtin University, National Tertiary Education Union Tagged With: , , ,

One size does not fit all unis

19/09/2012 By

It would be reasonable to assume, as many people do, that the word university derives from the Latin universitas, meaning the whole, entire, and is related to the universality of knowledge and learning that notionally characterises a university. Reasonable but not quite on the mark.  It actually comes from a contraction of the Latin phrase universitas magistrorum et scholarium, meaning a community of masters (teachers) and scholars (students). So from the earliest times, teaching and learning - the transmission of knowledge and understanding - have been at the heart of a university's mission. Through the centuries, universities have further emerged as the primary agents of knowledge … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, Commonwealth-State relations Tagged With: , ,

Campus closures, course cuts, fee increases, job losses

19/09/2012 By

The Australian   19 September 2012 A leaked summary of Victorian TAFE transition plans reveals plans for possible mergers, takeovers and asset swaps.  The document, which summarises TAFE strategies to survive a $300 million budget  cut, covers Victoria's 14 stand-alone institutes and four dual-sector universities as well as a surprise entry from La Trobe University. La Trobe, which does not have a TAFE division, plans to pursue partnerships with several regional TAFEs to help shore up the viability of three of its regional campuses. This could affect the medium-term viability of the University of Ballarat, which is pursuing partnerships with the same TAFEs.  If that transpires, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, L a Trobe University, University of Ballarat, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

TAFE strike

19/09/2012 By
TAFE strike poster

NTEU Newsroom     AEU Newsroom     18 September    2012 TAFE unions have called an "emergency rally" and will  strike  on Thursday 20 September,  saying that  they "are now fighting for the very survival of TAFE in Victoria" following the disclosure of  "how savage and devastating the Baillieu Government's TAFE cuts are for the Victorian economy and the futures of young people. The strike will include all staff in dual sector institutions. The strike  action will be unprotected. Australian Education Union TAFE president Greg Barclay said protected action was only possible during a bargaining period. Yes it will be disruptive but it is nowhere near as disruptive as those … [Read more...]

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

Anger over NSW training cuts

18/09/2012 By

The Australian   18 September 2012 Training groups are furious over NSW's decision to scrap funding for a program that costs it just $1.7 million a year and helps ensure jobs for about 8000 apprentices and trainees. “It makes no sense whatsoever,” said Group Training Australia chief executive Jim Barron. The state government has announced funding for the Joint Group Training Scheme will finish at the end of the year. The decision was part of an estimated $80m in cuts to vocational training funding and another $120m to school education, announced last week. The program funds group training organisations to employ apprentices and trainees on behalf of mostly small companies … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Coalition policies, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Campus Review 17 September 2012

17/09/2012 By
campus-review1

Turning a blind eye A bionic device has been successfully implanted into the eye of a Victorian woman who can now see flashes of light and shapes after being profoundly blind for almost 30 years. Excited researchers are claiming it as a “world first” procedure. Dianne Ashworth, 54, was diagnosed with a hereditary condition, retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in her early to mid-20s, which caused her vision to severally degenerate over time.  But the Victorian mother has now received what she calls a “pre-bionic eye” implant that enables her to experience some vision. After more than a decade of hard work and planning by many researchers and doctors, Ashworth’s implant was switched … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, Campus Review, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Commonwealth-State relations, universities, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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