Budget reply offers more promise for TAFE

While the Federal Government offered little for TAFE in its Budget, Labor offered some hope in its reply speech, writes LINDA SIMON.

On May 11 Federal Treasurer Peter Costello promised TAFE very little extra in the Federal Budget. In fact TAFE was not even mentioned by the Treasurer in his speech. There are some additional education and training places promised for aged care, $101 million over four years, but this is all rather vague.

There was a $4 million increase in funding for language, literacy and numeracy programs, but this was absolutely necessary as many training providers such as TAFE colleges in Southern Sydney ran out of money at the start of the year and could not keep the commitments to students that the Federal Government had made on their behalf.

And there was funding for 7500 training places for the Priority Places Program, which is aimed at groups such as parents entering or re-entering the workforce, older workers and people with a disability.

What is in this Federal Budget is just the first year of the Australians Working Together funding promised by the Government last year.

Given that the Australian Education Union believes that the Government needs to provide $213 million this year alone to redress previous funding cuts, to cater for the growth in student numbers this year, and for the quality and equity programs that would help to improve shortcomings in the system, the Federal Government has a long way to go.

Unmet demand this year for TAFE courses appears higher than ever, with the Australian Education Union predicting numbers around 50,000 nationally based on the 23,700 students the NSW Government says were on waiting lists in NSW in March this year. While demand for information technology courses might be down, there has been an increasing call for courses in a range of building areas, in plumbing, in some manufacturing areas, in electrical trades, in business and in many of the arts and entertainment areas.

But one of the fastest growing areas in TAFE for some years now has been in the provision of courses for young people who have left school early and then returned to TAFE to gather initial qualifications they have missed out on. The specific needs of these young people have been ignored for many years by the Federal Government despite lobbying of both Liberal and National parties. All parties have recognised the need, but the Government's answer has too often appeared in the form of short traineeships and employer incentives, without the assurance of quality education and training attached.

This problem was recognised by the Opposition Leader Mark Latham, in his budget reply speech on May 13. He called the Howard Government, a 'waiting list' government, with a user pays philosophy in education and health. He committed a Labor government to investing in schools, universities and TAFE colleges, and identified an $8 billion in savings that could be made from wasteful practices of the Howard Government. But his most important announcement for TAFE and young people was his $700 million investment, which would provide a youth guarantee he called "Learning or Earning".

The Australian Education Union has had a youth guarantee as part of its policy for a number of years, and while the actual details are not the same, the concept is.

A youth guarantee, under a Latham government, would provide funding for the 45,000 young people who leave school early and do not go into full time jobs or education. He referred to them as a lost generation, and identified a number of areas across Australia, such as the Wollongong area, where the problem was critical.

The funding provides for 7500 TAFE places and 7500 apprenticeships, with 15,000 extra students being encouraged to stay on at school taking vocational education and training classes. The Latham proposal has a solid basis in that these are some of the issues raised and recommendations made by the 2003 Senate Inquiry into current and future skills needs, with its report Bridging the Skills Divide. One aspect of this report noted the funding problems related to vocational education and training in schools, when schools could not afford to use the local TAFE colleges and teachers. Latham has addressed this problem by stating that Labor would pay the TAFE fees for all secondary school students.

Another positive aspect of his announcement was the mentoring program to support these young people. His government would establish a National Mentoring Foundation with 1000 new mentors, to help give these "young people who could drop out, a sense of belonging and purpose".

He also restated his Aim Higher policy, which had already committed to 20,000 new TAFE and 20,000 new university places a year. However, in the fine print in the actual policy, it shows that the 7500 places are not new places, but just part of the already announced 20,000.

There are still many questions to be answered around the Labor proposals, including whether at the same time as supporting these young people, the issues of skills shortages can be addressed. How the mentoring foundation would operate, and where 1080 mentors would be found and trained, needs further exploration. Federal Labor has costed the program on the basis of replacement of current programs.

However, given the Howard Government's lack of recognition of the importance of accessible and affordable public education, Federal Labor's commitment is a promising opportunity, which appears to indicate that the ALP has managed to focus their initial policies on some of those most in need.

Linda Simon is TAFE TA Secretary.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005