Teacher training top priority for 20,000 new uni places in budget

Teacher training courses have won the lion’s share of 20,000 extra taxpayer-funded places for universities, to be funded in the Albanese Government’s first budget on Tuesday.

Teacher training courses have won the lion’s share of 20,000 extra taxpayer-funded places for universities in the federal budget.

Teacher training courses have won the lion’s share of 20,000 extra taxpayer-funded places for universities in the Albanese government’s first budget on Tuesday.

More teachers, nurses and engineers will be trained after federal Education Minister Jason Clare funnelled funding to fields with “critical skills needs’’.

Five regional universities will gain most of the bonus bachelor degree and diploma places for students starting university next year and in 2024, at a cost of $485.5m over the next four years.

A quarter of the freshly funded places will be reserved for students training to become teachers – 1469 places for early education teachers in primary schools, preschools and childcare centres, and 2567 places to train primary and secondary school teachers.

The government will pay for 2600 more subsidised places in nursing degrees, 2275 in information technology degrees, 2740 in health professions including pharmacy and health science, and 1738 in engineering.

The remaining 6611 places will be offered in other areas of skills shortages, which range from the construction industry to mathematical sciences.

Universities must allocate the new places to disadvantaged students from poorer backgrounds, Indigenous Australians and students from rural and remote Australia – the groups least likely to attend university.

“This means more teachers, nurses and engineers – and it means more Australians from poor families and rural and remote Australia doing these jobs,’’ Mr Clare said. “That’s life-changing.’’ Most of the money will go to Charles Darwin University, the University of Wollongong, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University and the University of Newcastle.

Education Minister Jason Clare. Picture: David Foote

Mr Clare – the first in his family to attend university – is on a mission to provide a university education to more disadvantaged students. His department’s most recent equity data shows that Indigenous Australians made up barely 2 per cent of students at university in 2020. Students from poor families made up just 16 per cent of students and those with a disability 7.5 per cent of students.

The government will also target funding to upskill “women and other disadvantaged groups’’ with 180,000 fee-free places in TAFE and vocational education next year.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson hailed Mr Clare’s announcement.

“A university education is a mighty cause for good, setting people up for a fulfilling career and opening up opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have,” she said.

“These additional places will ensure more Australians benefit from a world-class education.”