Loan nightmare killing TAFE skills push
LESS than a fifth of the money set aside by the federal government for TAFE NSW students has been used in the last year, with the state’s biggest trainer of tradies intensifying its fight with Education Minister Simon Birmingham over its “disastrous” policy.
NSW
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LESS than a fifth of the money set aside by the federal government for TAFE NSW students has been used in the last year, with the state’s biggest trainer of tradies intensifying its fight with Education Minister Simon Birmingham over its “disastrous” policy.
Amid an intensifying skills crisis — particularly in western Sydney — just $22 million of $120 million set aside for student loans was used.
TAFE NSW boss Jon Black warned barriers involved in applying for a loan has led to the number of applications for construction diplomas and childcare courses plummeting.
“In fact, the total number of Commonwealth-supported loans across TAFE NSW’s top 20 diploma courses has more than halved over the last two years,” he writes in today’s Daily Telegraph.
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The Education Department confirmed just 18 per cent of TAFE NSW’s student loan limit had been hit, but said the limit was only imposed “as a means of managing and limiting the risk of abuse and unsustainable growth”.
Figures from Deloitte show Western Sydney currently has almost 70,000 jobs which are not filled due to the skills shortage.
The Daily Telegraph previously revealed a 50,000 shortfall of construction workers.
Meanwhile the state Government has announced a taskforce to recruit an extra 250 TAFE teachers for NSW.