Budget drives sweeping changes to higher education The budget puts higher education on a path of radical change … and will fundamentally alter the shape of Australian higher education...In deciding to extend the demand driven system and government funding to non-university providers, UA is pleased that further work will be done to ensure competitive fairness and that the relative government support appropriately takes account of the differing community expectations and public good obligations.....[ MORE ].... A package to explore for the future IRU has long advocated continuing with charging caps, set to ensure universities have sufficient revenue to provide good quality education. … [Read more...]
The Scan # 149 15 May 2014
15/05/2014 by
___________________________________________________________________________________________ ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Higher education Higher education spending will rise appreciably in 2014-15, from $8.7 billion to $10.9 billion (25%), with the extension of the demand driven system to sub-bachelor places and non-university higher education providers. Modest further growth is forecast out to 2017-18, to $11.8 billion (9%). The key elements of higher education spending in the 2014-15 Budget, according to Universities Australia. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Extending the demand driven system to sub-bachelor places and non-university … [Read more...]
TDA: finally a fair deal for TAFE on higher education
14/05/2014 by
TDA | 14 May 2013 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Concerns for apprenticeship students with cost shift from grants to loans. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Advocacy initiated by TAFE Directors Australia (TDA) over more than four years has emerged successful, with Budget 2014 overhauling Federal course funding contributions toward students enrolling in higher education courses at TAFE Institutes and non-university institutions. The deregulation of higher education, to take place from 1 January 2016, is listed as one of three features of Budget 2014, along with the Infrastructure Growth Package, and the $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund. Student … [Read more...]
TDA Newsletter 12 May 2014
12/05/2014 by
Minister ponders higher education funding The Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne has outlined his views about the way the Commonwealth might fund TAFE and other non-university higher education providers under an expanded system as proposed by the recent Kemp-Norton review. In a speech to Monash University, the Minister said that funding for Commonwealth Supported Places would require careful consideration. “Obviously, only providers registered with the tertiary quality agency, TEQSA, could be eligible, and only for accredited courses; and there would be other important conditions as well,” the Minister said. “As you know, universities are required to undertake research and … [Read more...]
TDA Newsletter 4 May 2014
06/05/2014 by
Commission of Audit calls for states to take over VET The National Commission of Audit has recommended that responsibility for vocational education and training (VET) be handed to the states. “The Commission is of the view that the States should take responsibility for VET, including the current reform agenda. This simplified governance and accountability would be more efficient than the current arrangements,” the report says. “Given the amount of money all governments spend in the vocational education and training area, outcomes achieved are not strong. For example, in 2012, the completion rate for trade apprentices was only around 56 per cent.” It recommends abolishing all Commonwealth … [Read more...]
TDA Newsletter 28 April 2014
28/04/2014 by
Minister Pyne set to back Kemp-Norton review on tertiary reform and TAFE and private college funding for degrees – AFR Education exclusive The Australian Financial Review’s Education Editor, Tim Dodd, today reports that Education Minister Christopher Pyne will use a speech later today in London to signal broad support for an overhaul of tertiary university funding, as proposed by the Kemp-Norton review. The funding reforms would mean students choosing TAFE or private colleges for higher education and ‘vocational degree’ study would also be entitled to Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) funding and HECS places. To support universities, Kemp-Norton recommended wider funding access for … [Read more...]
TDA newsletter 22 April 2014
22/04/2014 by
TAFE mergers underway in Victoria Two of Gippsland’s major higher education and training providers, Advance TAFE and GippsTAFE, will merge under a new entity, Federation Training. The two institutes, which cover 14 campuses across the Gippsland region, will merge from May 1. There is a plan for a second stage in 2016 that would see Federation Training integrated with FedUni, formerly the University of Ballarat. To support the integration of the two TAFE institutes and FedUni, the Victorian Government has provided $40 million from its $200 million TAFE Structural Adjustment Fund. See more. ________________________________________ Higher education records broken at TAFE NSW A record … [Read more...]
TDA Newsletter 10 March 2014
10/03/2014 by
TAFE Meets Parliament 2014 Assistant Education Minister, Sussan Ley The National Board of TAFE Directors Australia met Coalition Ministers, Shadow Ministers, MPs and a key Senate committee as part of TAFE Meets Canberra 2014. Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane met with the Deputy Chair of TDA, Dianne Murray and CEO Martin Riordan to discuss TDA’s case for addressing red tape and compliance costs, and moving to a risk framework under new VET regulatory standards. Meetings were held with Alan Tudge, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, who invited TDA to address solutions to ‘closing the gap’ for indigenous communities in city, regional and remote … [Read more...]
Focus to shift to school trade training
07/03/2014 by
The Australian | 7 March 2014 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Abbott government will encourage more students to undertake school-based apprenticeships and move away from the focus on higher education, in a dramatic change in approach from Labor. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… Assistant Education Minister Sussan Ley said the number of people achieving formal trade qualifications was far too low and there was an overwhelming belief across schools, industry, trainers and governments that the national framework for vocational education and training in schools should be modernised. Ms Ley has told TAFE Directors Australia that new careers advice would be … [Read more...]
Anger over “secret” student visa review
05/03/2014 by
Australian Financial Review | 5 March 2014 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The federal government has angered the $15 billion-a-year international education industry by secretly carrying out a review that endorsed current student visa rules while ignoring education providers who wanted to see some measures relaxed. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Immigration and border Protection assistant minister Michaelia Cash has signed off on the review, which endorsed the requirement that international students be assessed as "genuine temporary entrants" before being awarded a visa. However, the eight bodies that represent the international education … [Read more...]
