NSW Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon has called on the Illawarra’s Labor candidates to protect local TAFE colleges and back a campaign to re-write the National Partnership Agreement.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Visiting Wollongong on Monday Ms Rhiannon urged Member for Cunningham Sharon Bird and her colleagues to support calls for a new agreement that excludes all for-profit private companies from any involvement in vocational education and training.
“The Illawarra with its high unemployment, particularly among young people, needs the public TAFE system to expand, not for more opportunities to open up for private companies to come into vocational education and training,” Ms Rhiannon said.
“When that happens we see a weakening of course standards, a loss of staff and a real hardship in how it plays out for the local economy and individuals hoping for good solid training.”
The National Partnership Agreement on Skills Reform was introduced in 2012 by the federal Labor government, creating training entitlements that students could use at TAFE or with private providers.
“While the Greens top priority in this election is to defeat the Turnbull government, what goes hand in hand with that is stepping up the pressure on Labor to ensure that they change this policy that opened up the door for corporate interests.
"This agreement has allowed private providers to expand their operations in the vocational education and training sector and to maximise their profits by cutting staff time and course standards.”
“Our public education system has been dismantled and in the Illawarra I would argue you are already feeling it.”
Our public education system has been dismantled
- Lee Rhiannon
Greens candidate for Cunningham Cath Blakey said strengthening the public TAFE system was a top priority.
“TAFE in the Illawarra has been so severely cut that training standards have been seriously compromised by private registered training organisations,” Ms Blakey said.
"The Greens starting point to restore our local public TAFE institutions is to renegotiate the agreement and end the contestability that is driving down course quality, increasing student fees and causing experienced staff to leave.”
Greens candidate for Throsby Tom Hunt said young people leaving school in the Illawarra were facing an unsure future.
“We have a situation where we have record unemployment yet a skills shortage.’’
