The Baird Government has to come clean on TAFE.
It has to tell us what its intentions are regarding this historic and important educational institution.
There are fears that in sticking to some sort of conservative ideological position the government may end up throwing out the baby with the bath water.
It’s all very well to allow private operators in this field but the average person needs to be sure that the electrician or plumber who comes to their house knows what they are doing.
This is something we have all taken for granted for more than 100 years in NSW.
It is one of the things that makes us first world.
It’s all due to TAFE – Technical and Further Education – and its high standard of teaching over the years.
The state opposition, the Greens and TAFE teachers and students are accusing the government of cutting back on funding for TAFE.
They point to rising TAFE student fees – up 22 per cent in some cases during the past 12 months – and plummeting enrolment figures. More than 40,000 says the loose pro TAFE alliance.
If that is all true, the real losers will be us in west and south west Sydney, already doing it tough financially, if it becomes prohibitively expensive for our kids to learn a trade.
But there’s also talk that this government plans to cash in by selling some of the TAFE campuses which are virtually empty of teachers and students.
The government, for its part, says it is investing $2 billion into the TAFE system this financial year.
But talk to current and former teachers and they tell you a different story.
An efficient TAFE system that produces high quality tradesmen like electricians and carpenters and plumbers is one worth keeping.
Part of that can include accredited private companies running the same courses.
Either way, the government was not elected to dismantle something as important to us as TAFE.
It may not mean to dismantle it, but it has to come clean and say what its intentions are.
