Little substance in talk of keeping sector afloat

FOR a sector that attracts precious little interest, vocational training draws an awful lot of rhetoric.

FOR a sector that attracts precious little interest, vocational training draws an awful lot of rhetoric.

Much of the commentary on Julia Gillard's 84-page skills statement was on how much of it said nothing - the 25 pages mostly dedicated to photos and coloured space. Of the things it did say, many had been said before - some several times since 2010. And commentators ask whether even these recycled announcements mean much, saying the central proposal - a training entitlement - already exists in state-funded TAFEs.

An entitlement would be a change to current practice if the states were obliged to let private colleges compete for their training funds. But Ms Gillard has left this up to the states.

Experts also question the need for a "HECS for Skills" loan. The subsidised diplomas it covers only cost a couple of thousand dollars a year, not the $4000-$9000 charged for university courses. And the jury is out on whether most vocational students are prepared to take on debt, even deferred debt.

The government's rhetoric goes into overdrive on the need to preserve TAFEs - the "bedrock" of training and bastions of "sophisticated technical education".

TAFEs have struggled for decades to ditch their old "tech" image as the place where apprentices learn their trade. Modern TAFEs draw attention to their community services, their white-collar training, their off-site consultancies, their overseas partnerships, their degrees, even their research.

But while TAFEs can do lots of things, private colleges generally can't be "techs". Not because they don't know how, but because they can't afford it.

For years TAFEs have cross-subsidised their expensive technical training through the margins they make on cheaper classroom-based training, and through fee-for-service work for local companies. But with private colleges increasingly cornering these profitable activities, the funding model is in danger of falling over.

Saddled with capital-intensive facilities and public sector-style constraints, TAFEs move into the danger zone when they start losing students to boot. In open-market Victoria, some TAFEs are reportedly close to the wall.

The federal government's rhetorical support for TAFEs is nothing new. And its directive to states to start developing strategic plans to keep TAFEs afloat contains little substance. But if the plans don't work, Australians could find themselves in a "tech"-free landscape. Think it's hard now to book a builder, a sparky, a plumber to fix your overflowing toilet? Think how hard it might be in the future, after TAFEs start falling over.