Funding cuts won’t hurt

By Lia Bichel
TEACHING jobs and student learning should not be affected by a $12 million funding cut to the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), the State Government says.
Fears are rife that jobs will be lost and students will suffer from the State Government funding cut.
But Higher Education and Skills Minister Peter Hall’s spokesman James Martin said it was only the additional co-ordination funding used to establish the program that had been discontinued, and the changes would not impact students undertaking VCAL and should not impact on teacher jobs.
Despite Mr Martin’s comments, Executive Officer of South East Local Learning and Employment Network (SE LLEN) Andrew Simmons said he was shocked to learn of the cuts and believed they would have a negative impact on staffing and program delivery.
“The biggest issue is that there was no consultation,” Mr Simmons said.
“It was a decision made based on money saving without realising what impact it would have on everyone.”
Narre Warre North MP Luke Donnellan also said the cuts would directly affect programs at the new Hallam Valley Trade Training and Skills Hub which provides high level training to students from a number of local schools, as well as many other schools across Casey and Greater Dandenong, with up to $126,000 lost at each school.
Shadow Minister for Education Rob Hulls visited Narre Warren South P-12 College this week and said the cuts made no educational or economic sense.
But Mr Martin said the money which would be cut was used to assist the introduction of the program when it began in 2003 and provided teachers with time to write course content and to liaise with local employers for work placements.
He said these relationships were now well established and the co-ordination role was now largely undertaken by Local Learning and Employment Networks (LLENs) and through workplace learning co-ordinators.
Additional support will be provided to schools through the work of workplace learning co-ordinators across the state and established Local Learning and Employment Networks ( LLENS), that broker partnerships with employers, industry, community organisations, business and other education and training providers.
Mr Martin said funding for the delivery of VCAL programs in 2012 was maintained and provision for growth in enrolments had been provided for in school funding.