MANAGEMENT and staff at South West Institute of TAFE have united in a fight to stop further state government subsidy cuts which have already cost more than $500,000 in lost revenue.
They fear the institute’s future could be in jeopardy.
Already the first round of cuts late last year shaved 25 per cent off the student subsidy collected by the TAFE sector.
It triggered redundancies for eight staff at the Warrnambool-based institute and 300 permanent positions across the state.
Student fees for south-west students have been increased to counter the lower funding with diploma courses jumping from $2000 to $2500.
The Victorian TAFE Association and Australian Education Union (AEU) warned of subsidy cuts amounting to $230 million over four years, but Higher Education Minister Peter Hall said no such decision had been made.
“It’s just scaremongering,” he said.
“The government has not made any decision for more cuts to TAFE subsidies.”
South West TAFE, which has campuses in Warrnambool, Hamilton, Portland and Glenormiston, expects to enrol about 13,500 students this year and operate on a $40m budget.
It has plans for a new training centre on Raglan Parade for which it is awaiting state and federal development funding.
Chief executive Joe Piper told The Standard yesterday it was business as usual, but under a cloud of uncertainty.
“We’ve got the pedal to the metal, but the pressure is on,” he said.
“Our cuts were between $500,000 and $700,000.
“It places some of our lower-demand programs and community services at risk.
“We are lobbying the state government to review funding to the TAFE sector prior to further cuts that would affect our ability to service the region’s community and contribute to meeting the skills shortage.”
TAFE receives a higher subsidy per student than private and community-based providers and an Essential Services Commission report last year recommended the gap be abolished.
According to the TAFE association and union, this would be disastrous and could force some rural outreach campuses to close. However, the minister said the government would still meet its commitment in funding higher education and skills training which was expected to be boosted from $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion next budget to be shared between 18 TAFEs and 732 other providers.
AEU Victorian branch spokeswoman said private course providers had blown out the budget by enrolling students in courses with limited job prospects.
“TAFEs are being forced to pay for the private providers’ excesses,” she said.
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