STUDENTS and staff at Chisholm Institute of TAFE are being left in the dark about the state of their courses next year, a local MP says.
Following the State Government cuts to TAFE funding which left some staff without jobs and many courses cancelled, students are now facing the prospect of cancelled night classes in 2013.
Hampton Park resident Melanie Barkla, who studies community service at Dandenong Chisholm, said she had an anxious wait but fortunately found out last week that her course was continuing next year.
“I am definitely lucky to find out about my course, but that was delayed,” she said.
“But I’ve learned funding cuts could impact my course and changes are being made – we may lose contact hours, in class hours and have no access to photocopying. Those are just the thing I know about.”
Narre Warren North Labor MP Luke Donnellan said it was highly concerning that both students and teachers were not being told what was happening.
“Thanks to the Baillieu Government’s TAFE cuts, we have seen hundreds of jobs lost and training opportunities gone,” Mr Donnellan said.
“Now students are facing the prospect of more course cancellations and no night classes.”
Mr Donnellan said night classes were crucial for TAFEs as the offered people with day jobs the opportunity to gain further training.
“Any cancellation of night classes would be terrible news for people looking to increase their skills,” he said.
“It really affects the whole community. Without the opportunity to increase skills and still work during the day, many families across Casey will face the difficult decision to cancel their TAFE enrolments.”
Minister for Skills Peter Hall said TAFE was an important part of the state’s vocational system, but timetabling and course offering was up to Chisholm TAFE.
He said the Victorian Government was investing an additional $1 billion over four years for training – “the largest investment in training by any government in Victoria’s history.”
“Victoria provided a third of all state and territory investment in training delivery and support in 2011, funding a million more subsidised enrolments in vocational education than any other state,” Mr Hall said.
“The refocus has encouraged more Victorians to take on training, with nearly 680,000 Victorians in training in September 2012 – up 31 per cent on the same time last year. Around 37,500 of those enrolments were in specialist occupations and in industries experiencing skills shortages – up 19 per cent in the first three quarters of 2012. Our government increased funding for all apprenticeships and in other skills shortage areas to encourage this growth.”
Chisholm TAFE did not respond to requests for comment before the News went to print.
