National TAFE claim launched

Poll results show TAFE funding a significant voting issue

	TAFE Poster

A national TAFE claim was launched by the Australian Education Union (AEU) today. Results of a poll of 500 respondents nationwide showed that TAFE and education funding is a significant issue for the majority of Australians.

76% of soft voters (people who may change their vote) and 64% of overall respondents agreed that the Howard government has gone down the wrong track on education and, if the Labor Party put up a policy which included substantial investment in TAFE and public schools, that would be reason enough to vote for them.

The poll also found:

• 94% of all respondents agree that "Providing extra funds for TAFE is essential to train more Australians to meet the skills crisis"

• 80% of soft voters agree that "One of the biggest mistakes the Howard government has made is slashing funding to TAFE, making it harder to fix the skills crisis."

The results of the poll were released with the AEU TAFE claim which calls for a massive increase in funding. The claim on Federal and State governments calls for additional funding of $470 million in 2008, increasing to $2.1 billion in 2011.

The claim calls for a review of infrastructure and capital requirements in the TAFE system; a quality improvement fund to address unacceptably high levels of casual employment; workforce transition and renewal and ongoing professional development, including increased investment in return to industry programs.

The AEU also proposes a national summit to consider increased investment in student services and support programs and relief for fees and charges.

While the claim is on Federal and State governments, the focus is squarely on the Federal government leading up to this year's election. The Federal government has a $17.5 billion surplus but has demonstrably failed to fund TAFE adequately, instead squandering millions on Australian Technical Colleges which have failed to deliver. The way to solve the skills crisis in Australia is to invest in TAFE.

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Last Modified: 31 Aug 2007