A $35m investment will be made into a new aged care, disability support and mental health care and support TAFE centre in Cairns in an effort to fill gaps in industries facing skills shortages. The boost comes as part of ...
More »VET numbers soar past 1.26 million in skills push
The number of students enrolled in government-funded vocational education and training (VET) courses has surpassed 1.26 million under a national push to address critical skill shortages, as the Coalition ramps up attacks on Labor’s enrolment levels and signature fee-free TAFE program. ...
More »$83m to convert casual teachers to TAFE educators
The NSW state government will commit $83.1m over the next four years to help convert casual teachers to permanent employment in a bid to retain expert TAFE teachers. Currently, an estimated 48 per cent of TAFE NSW’s teaching workforce does not have permanent employment, ...
More »TAFE teacher rules relaxed to improve shortage
High school teachers and teachers-in-training can now use their qualifications at TAFE in a "commonsense" move to ease the shortage of VET educators. Those with a secondary school teacher qualification will be excused from having to obtain a full Certificate ...
More »Apprenticeship scheme to be reviewed as half of trainees drop out
A $1.3bn scheme to get more people into apprenticeships will be investigated amid concerns it is failing to grow the pipeline of workers needed to address critical skills shortages. Former Federal Court judge Justice Iain Ross and former senior public ...
More »Are students choosing TAFE over universities?
University degrees have become increasingly less popular for prospective students according to the latest census data, which showed a 109,000 drop in full-time enrolments in the year to May. According to the ABS, there has been a 23.6 per cent ...
More »Survey ‘vindicates’ need for TAFE funding increases but head of independent providers disagrees
A nationally representative sample of 1001 Australians aged 18 and over found that 94 per cent of respondents believed federal TAFE funding was important for the post-recession rebuild and recovery. The question put to online respondents was: how important is ...
More »VET: The great equaliser for African refugees
Vocational education qualifications provide a raft of opportunities for disadvantaged people such as refugees, who often experience disrupted educational experiences growing up. Such qualifications enhance job prospects and promote economic independence. However, according to Tebeje Molla, a research fellow at ...
More »ITECA CEO takes the gloss off new TAFE report
A new report has highlighted TAFE’s role in Australia’s economic success and warned that not investing in the sector will destroy our economy’s engines for prosperity, growth and equity. Authored by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute, the ...
More »AEU accuses productivity commission of putting profits above TAFE’s future
The Australian Education Union (AEU) has submitted its response to the latest Productivity Commission National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development Review Interim Report, providing a scathing review of the sector’s current situation. The union contends that the new national ...
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