False start for TAFE courses hit by collapse of online portal
TAFE enrolments are in chaos across Sydney with hundreds of students unable to sign up for courses because the online portal collapsed.
NSW
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TAFE enrolments are in chaos, with prospective students unable to find the courses they want online because keywords have been removed from the search function.
Classes have been delayed for weeks amid the confusion as TAFE tries to address the problem.
When The Daily Telegraph typed “security guard” into the TAFE website’s search function this week, it returned no results even though courses exist.
A search for “panel beating” returned no results, although the course description for Automotive Body Repair Technology includes the term “panel beating”.
Enrolment data shows many popular courses are heavily under-subscribed through the online portal.
“We have never had enrolments as low as this, they have been decimated as a result of keywords being turned off on the website,” a TAFE insider said yesterday.
“I know of courses that have been postponed for three weeks.”
The insider said the online problems were identified at the start of June but nothing was done to fix them.
Internal emails, seen by The Telegraph, reveal TAFE bosses were warned of a “massive” drop in enrolments since the decision to remove keywords from the new website was implemented.
Staff were told keywords were removed because some sections had “spammed” their courses with keywords to enhance their visibility on the site, the emails say.
A data spreadsheet shows few or no enrolments finalised online for many semester two courses which should have started this week.
TAFE NSW said online enrolments made up only a proportion of the total number — but was unable to say exactly what percentage.
“Far from an undersubscription, early childhood courses at Meadowbank, for example, are oversubscribed for 2018,” a spokesman said.
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He said TAFE NSW had been going through a “once-in-a-generation reform” of its systems and had launched a new website designed to improve customers experience.
“As with the installation of any new software, a period of settling in and finetuning has been required to optimise performance,” he said.
“We will continue to monitor and improve the website, however we are confident that it is now fully functional and providing a straightforward path for students to enrol at TAFE NSW.”
There were anecdotal reports of students trying to enrol online eventually having to go and enrol in person.
TAFE Community Alliance spokeswoman Linda Simon said: “Courses have been put off because of problems with the online search engine preventing students from getting what they need to enrol.”
TAFE’s usually busy Ultimo campus resembled a ghost town this week as the semester got under way.