Labor claims figures show TAFE enrolments and completions are at their lowest in a decade

The number of students enrolling in and completing courses at TasTAFE is at the lowest level in a decade, Labor says. The government rejects the claims.

Labor's Josh Willie speaks to the media on parliament Lawns in Hobart.

The number of students enrolling in and completing courses at TasTAFE are lower than they were when the Liberals came to power in 2014, Labor says.

But claims by Opposition education spokesman John Willie that the government-owned vocational education provider is in crisis have been rejected by Minister for Skills, Training and Workforce Growth Felix Ellis.

Figures collated by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research show that in the April-June 2023 quarter, there were 855 completions and 1135 commencements, Mr Willie said.

By comparison, during the last quarter when Labor were last in government there were 915 completions and 1585 commencements, he said.

Labor's Josh Willie.

Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services Felix Ellis.

TasTAFE’s 2022/23 annual report showed a total of 18,857 students enrolled in 2022, down from 20,346 in 2021, although the number of enrolled in vocational education and training was up from 12,300 to 13,240.

A decade ago, TasTAFE had 32,711 students enrolled, according to its 2013/14 annual report.

Mr Willie said TasTAFE was “in trouble after 10 years of a Liberal government”.

“After ten years in office, the Liberals have turned TasTAFE upside down and created a terrible workplace culture which has become so bad that teachers are regularly speaking out to the media about it,” he said.

“We’ve also seen students speak out about mismanagement, overfilled classrooms and low staffing levels, which are making Tasmania’s skills shortage worse.

“A Labor government will work with trades and industry to improve the connection between TAFE and industry, contributing to a strong Tasmanian economy and building the skilled workforce we need for the future.

“We will offer people with a trade or professional background a six-month scholarship to enable them to become a qualified TAFE teacher.”

Generic shot of someone from the construction industry. For TasTAFE editorial for Back to School feature for Hobart Mercury

Minister for Skills, Training and Workforce Growth Felix Ellis said TAFE was training more Tasmanians than ever before.

“We’ve had a massive increase in terms of the number of people going through TasTAFE,” he said.

“What it’s been driven by is a strong economy and record low unemployment, but also huge investments in TasTAFE.

“We’ve returned to more high levels, still higher than Covid, but not as high as the peak, obviously those numbers stabilise but we’ve had a 40 per cent increase in many trades over the last five years and huge increases that we’re seeing right across our economy, because there are massive new opportunities in Tasmania’s growing economy.”

TasTAFE became a not-for-profit government business in July 2022.

It’s chief executive Grant Dreher receives a salary package worth $364,000 a year.

Originally published as Labor claims figures show TAFE enrolments and completions are at their lowest in a decade