2016-02-11
The collapse of a major college in the VET sector leaving thousands of students stranded and hundreds of workers in limbo highlights the need for the Government to redirect investment into TAFE, rather than for-profit providers, the Australian Greens say.
"This is yet another example of students being dudded by Government policy. While reforms passed by the Parliament last year provide some safeguards, the for-profit model will never guarantee high quality courses for students," Greens higher education spokesperson Senator Robert Simms said.
"We cannot continue to put the livelihoods and careers of students at risk by pouring taxpayer money into a broken for-profit VET system. With deregulation of the TAFE sector now in the Government's sights, we are very concerned this will further increase the risk of students being exploited by the for-profit sector.
"We call on the Government to adequately fund TAFE so it can remain a high quality provider of vocational education for students."
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