In this edition Commonwealth takeover of VET would hurt TAFE, federal opposition says Tasmania to invest in skills for seasonal industries Canberra Institute to deliver technology courses in India Students planning class action against Evocca College Book now for Australian Training Awards TAFE teachers battle out prestigious language, literacy and numeracy award TAFE study tour to Singapore and South Korea Australia-Pacific Technical College seeking country manager for Papua New Guinea Diary Dates Commonwealth takeover of VET would hurt TAFE, federal opposition says The federal government’s proposal for a Commonwealth takeover of … [Read more...]
The Scan’s top ten reads – October 2014
31/10/2014 by
31 October 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In October The Scan published 47 posts, considerably less than usual, and only published 2 editions, rather than the 4-5 in a usual month. Early in October, we suffered what seemed to be a catastrophic ICT event , which turned out merely to be a bit of a disaster but limited activity (nothing to do with viruses and worms!). As noted last month Scan readers seem to be drawn to a whiff of controversy and the runaway controversy in October was the regulatory travails of the ASX-listed training provider Vocation (and which seem to have some way to run yet). University fee deregulation featured highly, with advocates and opponents … [Read more...]
Labor’s calculator of doom
31/10/2014 by
The Australian | 31 October 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… As part of its growing campaign against the Abbott government’s deregulation of university fees, Labor has launched its own “calculator of doom” which shows that in a “best case” scenario in which universities simply raise fees to cover proposed funding cuts, female nurses and teachers could face cost increases of about 60% once interest repayments are included. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Under the best case scenario, a female nurse would end up repaying $32,245 for her three-year degree over nine years, up 66% from $19,410 under current arrangements. If prices rose to international … [Read more...]
University fee deregulation bill
30/10/2014 by
30 October 2014 Sector responses ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… It's hardly news that all the university groups are as one that there is no alternative to fee deregulation to provide the funding to maintain the quality of Australian higher education (given declining public funding). They are not as one on how the proposed Commonwealth Scholarship scheme funding (provided by students) should be divvied up: the Group of 8 and ATN argue the money should be held and disbursed by the collecting institution, the RUN and IRU argue that it should be pooled and disbursed on a needs basis. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Universities Australia Drawing on a … [Read more...]
Senate committee reports on uni fees
28/10/2014 by
28 October 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee has tabled its report on the government’s Higher Education and Research Amendment Bill after two months of hearings and 164 submissions from interested parties. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… It’s utterly predictable: the committee has split 3 ways, with a majority report by the 3 Coalition members, recommending passage of the bill, perhaps with amendments, and dissenting reports by the single Labor member and the single Greens member, both recommending rejection of the bill. Predictable as it is, the report is also disappointing: the … [Read more...]
Palmer promises ‘bye bye’ to government’s proposed university reforms
28/10/2014 by
ABC News | 28 October 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Clive Palmer has declared "bye bye" to the Federal Government's university overhaul, saying his party will vote against the measures. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… In the May budget, the Government announced it would cut funding for courses by 20 per cent and allow universities to charge their own fees. But Labor and the Greens are against the change, leaving Education Minister Christopher Pyne to negotiate with the Senate crossbench. The legislation is set for debate in the Senate tomorrow, but Mr Palmer, whose Palmer United Party holds three balance of power seats, said his senators … [Read more...]
ALP launches anti uni fee dereregulation campaign
28/10/2014 by
28 October 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… With the Senate inquiry into the Higher Education and Research Reform Amendment Bill due to report to the Senate today and the bill expected to be debated this week, the Labor opposition has launched a campaign website and will be running TV ads opposing (what else!) the Bill. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… … [Read more...]
