By CASEY NEILL
INCREASED TAFE funding is crucial to tackling local youth unemployment, according to Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan.
But the State Government says it’s already supporting training to fill skill gaps.
Mr Donnellan signed the TAFE4ALL pledge at his office in Endeavour Hills on Monday.
The campaign has been running since 2008 and is calling for all state MPs and candidates to vow to better support the TAFE system.
According to TAFE4ALL, most student fees had tripled, hundreds of courses had closed, campuses had shut and more than 2500 teachers had lost their jobs at TAFE institutes across the state.
Mr Donnellan said male youth unemployment was at almost 19 per cent in the south east and that more TAFE funding would ensure young men in particular gained skills for meaningful work.
He said $116.3 million in State Government funding cuts had affected more than 80 per cent of courses at Chisholm TAFE, providing fewer opportunities for young people to get skills to find a job.
But Higher Education and Skills Minister Nick Wakeling said the State Government was funding training in areas of skills shortage that enhanced employment opportunities for all age groups.
“Indeed, 72 per cent of Victorian students are now training in areas of value to the economy and employment growth,” he said.
Mr Wakeling said the former Labor State Government “bungled” its attempts to reform the TAFE industry in 2008 by opening the market to competition from the private sector with no notice or consultation.
He said the Coalition Government was working closely with TAFEs, investing a $200 million structural adjustment fund to help TAFEs innovate and adapt.
“Under the Coalition, TAFE funding has risen to $600 million, a 23 per cent increase from the $487 million of funding when Labor was last in office in 2010,” he said.
