University of NSW chancellor David Gonski champions tradies

University of NSW chancellor David Gonski has questioned the Albanese government’s ambitious target for 55 per cent of young Australians to get a university ­degree.

Chancellor David Gonski at the University of NSW in Sydney. Picture: Nikki Short

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University of NSW chancellor David Gonski has questioned the Albanese government’s ambitious target for 55 per cent of young Australians to get a university ­degree.

Breaking ranks with other universities, the eminent business leader said trade qualifications were a smart choice for some school leavers.

“There are many, many people who believe that everyone should go to university. I’m not one,” he said in rare public commentary for a podcast by The Smith Family educational charity. “A good tertiary education outside of university is also a good thing.

“If you are the best plumber, the fact that you didn’t do urology at the university should not worry you at all, particularly when there’s a plumbing problem.”

Mr Gonski later told The Australian that “when the plumber arrives, he is God. And we should look up to them, just as we look up to urologists’’.

The Albanese government’s Universities Accord set a target to increase the proportion of university-educated Australians aged 25 to 34 from the existing 45 per cent to 55 per cent by 2050.

Plumbers and other tradies are just as valuable as university graduates, said David Gonski Picture: NewsWire

This would require universities to almost double the number of taxpayer-subsidised domestic students from 860,000 to 1.8 million.

Mr Gonski told The Australian that “there’s a lot more thinking that has to be given to this’’.

“I think university is wonderful for people – it was wonderful for me – but I don’t believe it needs to be for everybody,’’ he said.

“One shouldn’t assume that because you didn’t go to university that there’s any inferiority. I don’t believe for one minute that just ­because somebody didn’t go to university that they’re not well-trained and they’re not worldly.’’

Mr Gonski called on universities to collaborate more with ­industry and TAFE (technical and further education). He said students should be able to “mix and match’’ university and TAFE qualifications, and upskill throughout their careers.

“There are various skills that universities can teach, but there are also skills that TAFE and ­apprenticeships can teach,’’ he said. “My great wish is that people have the flexibility to move ­between both, and the ability over their lifetime to keep doing courses they need to do or want to do.’’

Mr Gonski also called on universities to support struggling ­students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Australian revealed last week that most universities have lowered academic entry requirements for students from poor families, those with a disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait ­Islanders and even students whose parents have divorced.

Mr Gonski said his father grew up in a poor family yet studied to become a brain surgeon.

“Just because you come from a low SES (socio-economic status) background or are disadvantaged does not mean that you’re not highly intelligent or indeed highly motivated,’’ he said.

“From a financial point of view, we’ve got to help with scholarships and so on to make it a ­possibility for people from low SES backgrounds not only to come to the university, but also to be able to do well there by not ­having to work on the side or study part-time.

“We’ve got to be able to give them the extra assistance they need.’’

David Goski was the architect of Australia’s needs-based funding model for schools. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Mr Gonski – the architect of Australia’s needs-based funding system for schools – told the Smith Family that governments took nearly 14 years to fully fund his ­reforms. “Many have spoken about the failure of what we put up 14 years ago, which I always laugh at because it was never funded, so how could it (succeed)?‘’ he told the Conversations with the Smith Family podcast.

“It was never really put into place, even though I think our ­ratios and our resource models were used almost from the start.

“I am delighted, even though it took time, that the commonwealth and the states have come together (to fund it).’’

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has boasted of signing deals with every state and territory to boost federal funding by $16bn over 10 years.

However, the extra money was not included in the forward estimates of the March federal budget.