STUDENTS at Victoria University will join education leaders to assess how state cutbacks to TAFE will hurt the western suburbs.
Williamstown Labor MP Wade Noonan has organised a forum to give staff and students the chance to understand better how the $290 million TAFE cutbacks will affect them.
“These cuts to our public TAFEs will have a disproportionate impact in Melbourne’s west because Victoria University is losing about $40 million a year in funding — alongside Swinburne, the highest cut to any individual TAFE provider.”
VU has flagged it will slash almost 80 courses and 100 teaching jobs. Diploma fees in some fields will rocket from $2500 to about $7000.
As reported in the Weekly, a study by western suburbs lobby group LeadWest said the cuts would cause considerable harm to the area’s prospects, given its high rates of low-skilled or non-English-speaking residents and ballooning unemployment.
But Higher Education and Skills Minister Peter Hall said reforms would ensure the demand-driven training system remained sustainable and relevant.
The forum is from 5.30pm on November 21 at Newport Bowls Club. Speakers include Victorian TAFE Association director David Williams and LeadWest chief executive Anton Mayer.
