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Report shows huge decline in VET student enrolments

The number of students taking up Vocational Education and Training plummeted by 86,000 people in two years, while the latest data showed enrolment falls in priority areas of NDIS, family violence and infrastructure.

The number of VET students has dropped.
The number of VET students has dropped.

The number of students taking up Vocational Education and Training (VET) plummeted by 86,000 people in two years, the latest data shows.

The Victorian Training Market Report was quietly released online last week but only featured a snapshot of information compared to earlier years.

The eight-page report for 2017 — 145 pages shorter than 2015 — showed the number of students in VET dropped by 23 per cent in two years.

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The Victorian Training Market Report has been released. Picture: iStock
The Victorian Training Market Report has been released. Picture: iStock

At the same time, the number of providers fell by 10 per cent — dropping 71 providers.

Priority areas of training saw an enrolment decline over a year, including in the NDIS (-14 per cent), family violence (-8 per cent) and infrastructure (-8 per cent).

The overall decline was overwhelmingly due to falls in the private sector, while the TAFE and dual sectors saw an increase in participation.

Opposition Training and Skills Minister Mary Wooldridge said VET was “haemorrhaging students”.

A Department of Education spokeswoman said the report showed Victoria recorded the highest growth of any jurisdiction between 2016 and 2017.

“There has been a deliberate shift to high quality training linked to jobs,” she said.

“Through the Quality Blitz, poor providers were removed from the funded training system.”

The government’s $172m free TAFE had doubled commencements in some courses to the year before, she said.

But Ms Wooldridge said VET was “failing to meet the needs of students or industry”.

“We are experiencing significant employment demand in Victoria, yet this government is

presiding over a VET sector that is haemorrhaging students,” she said.

“Daniel Andrews has clearly delayed the release and cut this report to the bones so

Victorians can’t see his failure to deliver the VET system this State needs.”

The latest figures come after annual reports dumped last week showed TAFE enrolments had fallen, while one institution lost a third of its students in a year.

ashley.argoon@news.com.au

@ashargoon

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-features/news-in-education/report-shows-huge-decline-in-vet-student-enrolments/news-story/ef1d84c3599b743d513ed1763617bdd1