In Focus Another year - another reform, A message from the Chair - Edition 585, 22 Dec I would like to comment on where our industry finds itself at the end of another year. This wonderfully diverse sector that we work in continues to perform, making real differences to the lives of Australians and our international guests. Despite this, the year has also produced many challenges. Media scrutiny of apparent unscrupulous operators has been a feature. We all know this is but a minor element of the sectors, not that some commentators have reported that. A tremendous advantage about an education marketplace, or any market for that matter, is that they produce innovation and … [Read more...]
Dawkins quits as chair of Vocation
27/11/2014 by
The Australian | 27 November 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… John Dawkins has resigned as chairman of troubled education group Vocation, saying shareholders want board renewal. He has been replaced immediately by Doug Halley, who is also currently chairman of ASX-listed Duet Group. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Last month, following a lengthy probe, Vocation was forced to repay $19.6 m in Victorian government VET funding over non-compliance issues and it has now emerged one of its subsidiaries (Aspin) is the subject of a previously undisclosed investigation by the federal skills regulator (ASQA). Vocation has also been under investigation by … [Read more...]
The Scan | Edition # 164 | 31 October 2014
31/10/2014 by
Labor's calculator of doom 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 student levels she would eventually repay $56,643 over almost 15 years. A male … [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...]
New VET regulatory standards signed off
23/10/2014 by
23 October 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Ministers at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Industry and Skills Council on 26 September 2014 agreed to new regulatory Standards for training providers and regulators. Industry minister Ian Macfarlane signed off on the new standards on 20 October. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… The government says the new Standards represent another important step towards an effective risk-based regulatory system and introduce important changes that strengthen industry engagement, improve the quality of training and reduce the regulatory burden on training providers. The new Standards also increase protections … [Read more...]
The Scan’s top ten reads – September 2014
30/09/2014 by
1 October 2014 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… In September The Scan published 67 posts, although we also extracted 39 submissions to the Senate inquiry into the government's higher education reform legislation. Scan readers seem to be drawn to a whiff of controversy , with the suspension of a vice-chancellor and the suspension of a listed company's trading (albeit temporarily) topping the most read list. The Senate submissions feature third, which is pretty good for that sort of subject. As usual, the travails of the TAFE sector in the era of skills reform features highly, particularly in Victoria, where it could be a prominent issue at the election due in November. Top reads … [Read more...]
Sweeping VET deregulation
12/09/2014 by
12 September 2014 “ASQA should be a regulator, not a book keeper” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Industry minister Ian Macfarlane has announced sweeping deregulation of the vocational education and training (VET) sector with “high performing” VET providers delegated the authority to manage their own scope of registration and no longer needing the regulator’s permission to change courses or introduce new ones. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….......…… Under the proposed changes, registered training organisations (RTOs) can apply to the Australian Skills Standards Agency (ASQA) for a delegation to manage their scope allowing RTOs to “get on with what they do best — … [Read more...]
