BRIMBANK student fees will more than triple next year for some vocational education and training (VET) subjects.
VET subjects are offered under the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) and Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) for students wanting to complete industry-based training while at school.
Principals and VET teachers across the western suburbs said the cost of subjects would increase substantially next year, with several units doubling or tripling.
Catholic Regional College (CRC) Sydenham principal Brendan Watson said prices for popular courses, including hair and beauty, had increased by almost $1000.
Students who want to undertake the course at Victoria University next year will be expected to fork out $2869, plus a materials fee of $1009.
Mr Watson said CRC had kept fees to $1700, but not all students would be so lucky.
“A major issue is that not all schools in the west are in a position where they can offer these courses at reduced prices,” he said. “Popular courses like building, construction, plumbing and heavier trades have been hit hard and the enrolment for these subjects next year is nowhere near what they have been in past years because families can’t afford it.”
Mr Watson said the VET fee increases, combined with recent state government funding cuts of $12 million for VCAL and $290 million for TAFE, would hamper the state’s economy. “The future of young people is dire unless we can offer them places in subjects that engage them and set them on the pathway for their future.”
Year 10 co-ordinator at Lakeview College in Caroline Springs, Marino D’Ortenzio, said the school would stop using Victoria University as a VET provider. He said higher costs for VET subjects were out of families’ reach.
“It’s devastating because these are the most vulnerable students; they need to be engaged the most,” he said. “They aren’t going to reach their full potential at a mainstream school.”
Lakeview College year 12 teacher Annie Tsangaridis said students completing VCAL were being forced to fund-raise for the program themselves.
James Martin, spokesman for Education Minister Martin Dixon, said the government’s advice to schools was to “shop around” for prices from other training providers.
But Williamstown Labor MP Wade Noonan said this was outrageous. “VET subjects are critically important to provide pathways for young people through their final year of education. Areas like Brimbank consistently have unemployment levels above state averages and it’s programs like these that stop students from becoming simply a statistic.”
