Letter to the editor

John Ross was right to report the problems with the Victorian government’s decision to restrict its subsidised vocational education for students over 19 years to qualifications at a higher level than any qualification they already hold (CR, 19.04.10).He might have also reported the problems caused by the UK government’s similar decision to withdraw its subsidy for higher education qualifications that are equivalent to or lower than a qualification already held by a student. And he might have noted the Australian government’s intermittent attempts to require universities to charge full fees for second degrees. Most recently as part of the Crossroads changes in 2003, the government restricted its subsidy to student learning entitlements of five years’ equivalent full-time study, a decision now reversed.