This week in Campus Review – 2 October 2012

02/10/2012 By
campus-review1

...as  highlighted  by  Campus  Review  itself Time to trade in well-worn university model University of Canberra vice-chancellor Stephen Parker writes that the future of higher education globally is bright, but the current conception of a university in countries like Australia is not sustainable in the long term, except perhaps for a small number of institutions. The organisational forms, cultures and practices which developed over the centuries to provide university education for society’s elite have been stretched and panel-beaten as far as they will go for an era of mass participation in higher education.  The model is too expensive, capital-intensive and inflexible. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Campus Review, Canberra University, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, Commonwealth-State relations, Higher education policy, International, International students, Research, Society, TAFE, University reform, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Vic TAFE Development Centre rebranded as VET Development Centre

01/10/2012 By
TDC

1 October 2012 The Victorian government has renamed the TAFE Development Centre (TDC) as the VET Development Centre to  reflect the changing nature of Victoria’s vocational education and training (VET) sector. The TDC was established in 2005 to raise the professional standing of people working in the vocational education and training sector through the delivery of a range of professional development and support programs.  In announcing the name change, skills minister Peter Hall said : Victoria has led the nation in the development of a diverse, high quality training sector and the name change more accurately reflects this expanded focus.  Half of all government subsidised … [Read more...]

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

Red outlook for Vic TAFEs

30/09/2012 By
TAFE image

The Australian    |    29 September 2012 Just five standalone TAFEs in Victoria expect to be in surplus next year, down from ten last year, even though NCVER statistics reveal that Victoria now spends more than any other state on vocational training.  It spent almost $1.2 billion, nearly $150m more than its larger neighbour NSW and over $300m more than it had outlayed the previous year. The leaked summary of Victorian TAFE business plans shows that six TAFEs are expecting deficits ranging from about $600,000 to $8.9 million.  The operating results of Victorian TAFEs will be worse if the state government doesn’t meet TAFEs' requests for cash advances and other types of new … [Read more...]

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

States could scuttle intern deal

28/09/2012 By
stethoscope2

The Australian    |     28 September 2012 The Commonwealth government has offered $10 million during emergency talks to find internships for an estimated 180 international medical students who are expected to graduate this year.  The graduates can’t practise or continue their medical training until they’ve completed the one-year internships. The Commonwealth has offered the one-off funding to create an extra 100 placements next year, provided the states fund the other 80 places and the students commit to work in regional areas once they’re registered. The offer is also conditional on the development of a new national system to match graduates to internships. The system … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Coalition policies, Commonwealth policies, International students, Medical training Tagged With: , , , ,

Vic govt rejects claims over Swinburne disability courses

27/09/2012 By
Peter-Hall-6288497

Victorian Government Newsroom   |   27 September 2012 The Victorian government has vigorously contested claims that Swinburne University will stop providing the Certificate I in Work Education as a result of funding changes in the May state budget.   Skills minister Peter Hall says that, as a result of those funding changes, the Certificate I in Work Education will actually now receive the highest hourly public subsidy of any vocational education course at $14 an hour, a 17% increase on the previous non-TAFE funding level.  The public subsidy for this course at Swinburne University increased as a result of those budget changes.  It did not decrease. Swinburne University recently … [Read more...]

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

Swinburne to axe course for students with special needs

27/09/2012 By

The Age    |    27 September 2012 Swinburne University will close a highly regarded course for people with disabilities, forcing some students to find alternative places to study.  The university will stop enrolling students for its work education course, which prepared them for basic workplace duties.  Swinburne will also scale back its transition education course, which many disabled students completed before enrolling in work education. TAFE director Linda Brown wrote to parents last month telling them that funding changes had affected Swinburne's ability to run its courses, although  the university management says it has begun talking to the government about the funding it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Budget, Coalition policies, Swinburne University, TAFE, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

TAFE cuts discriminate against women: VTA report

26/09/2012 By
ABC News: Alison Savage

ABC News   26 September 2012 The Victorian TAFE Association says analysis of the Government's $290 million vocational funding cuts shows they will discriminate against women. The association has examined 20 courses that are badly affected by the cuts and have a high proportion of either female or male enrolments. It found female-dominated courses, including children's services and hospitality, are facing funding cuts up to five times greater than male-dominated courses like bricklaying and agriculture. The association's executive director David Williams says the cuts will disadvantage women. We're arguing that up to 65,000 women, based upon 2011 enrolments, would be … [Read more...]

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

TDA Newsletter 24 September 2012

24/09/2012 By
tda-logo3

This is a summary of items from this week's edition of the TDA Newsletter. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Strong support for national approach to VET regulations The National Skills Standards Council (NSSC) says submissions to its consultation paper on the regulation of the standards of VET affirmed strong support for change and the need to have clearer, user-friendly standards, with consistent interpretation and application across the VET sector.  The NSSC released a list of the 114 submissions lodged by industry organisations and individuals. Skills Authority rejects registration of notorious … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ASQA, Coalition policies, Conferences, Holmesglen TAFE, Qualifications, Society, TAFE, TAFE Directors Australia, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

TAFE cuts advice to be kept secret

23/09/2012 By
Secret

Sunday Age   23September 2012 The Victorian government has refused to release the advice it commissioned before slashing the TAFE sector's budget, forcing institutes to cut courses and make thousands of workers redundant.  TAFE institute directors have condemned the government's refusal to release the full KPMG modelling. A freedom of information request by the opposition shows the government spent about $150,000 on advice from consulting firm KPMG before cutting funding to TAFEs.  The response shows the Education Department also sought an exemption from normal tendering processes, excluding other consulting firms from applying for the contract. But the response to the FOI … [Read more...]

Filed Under: AEU, Budget, Coalition policies, Holmesglen TAFE, Vocational education & training Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A ‘disturbing trend’ in education spending

23/09/2012 By
Budget cuts

Sunday Age    23 September 2012 Farah Tomazin reflects not just on the Victorian TAFE funding cuts but cuts to public education spending generally and concludes “these decisions not only erode public education, they hit the very people who are most at risk of not getting an education.”  It is as Tomazin concludes a “disturbing trend”, particularly as similar cuts are now taking place in NSW and Queensland. Most people knew the TAFE cuts were going to hurt but a leaked 86-page document - based on ''transition plans'' showing how each institute might offset losses - revealed the damage would be much deeper than first thought. Some TAFEs had told the government they wanted to … [Read more...]

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