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Clamp on foundation training & education
The Victorian government will restrict access to remedial training for adults, claiming that VET colleges are lining 
their pockets by enrolling students unnecessarily.
14 November 2013 | 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. 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”….[ READ MORE ]……
Queensland TAFE facilities up for grabs
4 November 2013 | The Queensland government has begun the search for commercial tenants of the state’s TAFE infrastructure, with survey of the state’s private registered training oranisations (RTOs) to gauge their interest in using TAFE infrastructure, and under what terms. Thirty-eight TAFE sites have been identified for potential private use.….[ READ MORE ]……
Pyne announces review of demand driven system
12 November 2013 | The minister for education, Christopher Pyne, has announced the scope of his foreshadowed review of the demand driven funding system for higher education. He has appointed former education minister David Kemp and director of higher education at the Grattan Institute (and and a senior adviser to then minister Kemp) Andrew Norton to undertake the review and report to the government in mid-February 2014.….[ READ MORE ]……
A quiet revolution in teaching
7 November 2013 | At a time of some debate about the quality of university education, RMIT vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner says there has been a ‘quiet revolution’ in university teaching which has seen a steady but significant improvement since the mid-1990s….[ READ MORE ]…..
Cap funding, says Davis
8 November 2013 | Uncapped funding for university enrolments should be replaced by an entirely new system that caps funding to institutions but allows them to set their own goals, according to Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis. Under the Rudd-Gillard governments, universities witnessed a 34% rise in undergraduate enrolments, with government spending on university places forecast to rise from $5bn in 2010-11 to $7bn by 2016-17. Davis says the review of the uncapped system foreshadowed by education minster Christopher Pyne needs to give the government budget certainty while allowing universities the freedom to determine the make-up of their student body.….[ READ MORE ]…..
Lilydale grant suspended over potential “conflict of interest”
8 November 2013 | The Yarra Ranges Shire Council was given a $100,000 grant in July to look into options for how the 
former Swinburne University site in Lilydale could be used for education purposes. But before the council was handed the cash it had announced it wanted to use part of the site to house its new municipal offices. A complaint was made to the Victorian Ombudsman about a potential conflict of interest over the site’s use – namely, “the council has a conflict of interest in being the custodian of this process given its interest to use the site for council offices rather than education purposes” which the Ombudsman has decided to examine.….[ READ MORE ]…..
Victoria changes TAFE funding rules
9 August 2013 | Victoria has changed funding arrangements for foundation skills courses following the latest reported rorts of training subsidies. It’s the latest in a string of modifications to the state’s four year-old open training market. They include cuts and some increases to course funding rates, changes to eligibility rules and a stop-start approach to dedicated funding streams – including the scrapping of TAFEs’ $170 million “community service obligation” funding..….[ READ MORE ]…..
ARC research grants announced
8 November 2013 | Education minister Christopher Pyne has announced $522 million in funding for 1177 new research projects under the Australia Research Council’s (ARC) Future Fellowships scheme (commencing 2013) and Major Grants scheme (commencing 2014).….[ READ MORE ]…..
The state of Australian education
31 October 2013 | A report by the Council of Australian Governments Reform Council shows mixed progress on education.
Participation in preschool is high and school outcomes in the early years are improving. Nationally, average scores improved in Years 3 and 5 in reading and in Year 5 in numeracy, but there were no improvements in Years 7 and 9. Australia is also performing behind top countries in these key areas. Year 12 attainment has increased, particularly for Indigenous students. More than a quarter of young people are not fully engaged in work or study after leaving school and this has worsened over five years……[ READ MORE ]…..
A system of capped funding?
1 November 2013 | Capping university funding, as proposed by Melbourne University vice-chancellor, Glyn Davis, would create a system that would be opaque, have no coherence across institutions and invite extensive micro managing of university expenditure, writes Conor King of the Innovative Research Universities group.…[ READ MORE ]…..
