TAFEs are an economic boon, says report

Victorian TAFE colleges return in additional economic activity more than double what they cost taxpayers.

TAFE colleges train students in skills for the job market, including apprentices.

A new report on the impact of the Victorian TAFE college system says that it returns in additional economic activity more than double what it costs taxpayers.

The report, titled “The importance of TAFE to Victoria’s prosperity”, says that the state’s 12 TAFE colleges and 4 dual sector universities, which teach at both vocational and higher education level, supported $2.19 of gross state product from every dollar spent on the educational institutions.

TAFEs also supported helped create $1.76 billion of industry output in 2016-17 as a result of new skills taught to students, the report says.

It also showed that TAFE enrols a far higher proportion of disadvantaged students than universities, or private vocational education colleges.

The report was commissioned from KPMG by the Victorian TAFE Association. The association’s executive director Andrew Williamson, said it was needed because there was a lack of understanding of the social and economic contribution made by TAFE colleges in Victoria.

KPMG national education leader Stephen Parker said the report showed that it was TAFE that was doing the “heavy lifting” on addressing student inequity in Victoria. While 40 per cent of students at TAFE come from the lowest socio economic strata, 33 per cent of students in privately provided vocational education have this background, and only 14 per cent of university students.

The report also said that TAFE was also a clear pathway into higher education for many students.

“For example, of the 336,000 domestic students commencing higher education qualifications in 2010, around 30,000, or 9 per cent, had previously undertaken VET courses indicating an important alternate pathway to universities,” it said.

Professor Parker also said that TAFEs were more suited, in many ways, than universities to training the workforce for jobs in the fourth industrial revolution which would be led by digitisation and automation.

“Universities do longer disciplinary-based programs while the economy needs shorter skill-based programs,” he said.

The report said that TAFE was equipped to work “in collaboration with industry, providing ‘hands-on’, practical training to equip graduates with workforce skills that are essential for entering the job market, including through the apprenticeship and traineeship schemes”.

It also noted the community contribution of TAFE, particularly in regional areas.

“Often regional TAFEs and their campuses play a prominent role in their local community, demonstrating an explicit commitment to local engagement,” the report said.