Greens NSW Senate candidate Lee Rhiannon today launched her party’s platform for the NSW higher education sector, with a raft of measures to secure the future of publicly owned TAFE colleges and universities (background here).
“Governments need to pay more than lip service to the importance of vocational education and university study,” Ms Rhiannon said.
"Prime Minister Julia Gillard has continued the Howard Government's formula of letting the private sector milk public funds to set up low standard post-secondary education facilities in order to make a profit.
"In many instances this has ended in disaster for students and educational standards.
"Incredibly, Julia Gillard now wants to roll this out in the vocational training sector to replace TAFE.
"The Liberal-National Party Coalition is ideologically committed to allowing the Australian private vocational education and training sector take over TAFE. The Howard years showed they have a complete disregard for publicly funding tertiary education.
“Under the Howard, Rudd and Gillard governments, TAFE in NSW has lost $572 million from its annual budget, due to federal funding cuts. Programs are being privatised in a race to the bottom in quality and teachers’ pay.
“The Greens are committed to a new deal for TAFE that reflects the crucial role it plays in securing a strong economic future and providing new opportunities for people left behind by structural change.
“Public funding for universities still lags behind the per student levels of a decade ago. It is time to reverse the increase in class sizes, increase salaries, support students and allow the nation’s tertiary institutions to grow in their role as the engine rooms of cultural and economic innovation.
“If elected I will campaign to inject more funds into both TAFE and Universities and end the privatisation of TAFE,” Ms Rhiannon said.
For more information: Lee Rhiannon 0427 861 568