NSW government says TAFE students don't want to learn in classrooms anymore, but agriculture and education industry groups argue campus closures will further disadvantage rural learners and in particular skills-based courses.
In January, government kicked off its Smart and Skilled reform program, which aimed to open up the market to private providers to compete with TAFE.
However, this year there were 30,000 fewer TAFE enrolments, with course fees jumping alarmingly.
In one of the most extreme cases, electrical engineering student fees rose seven-fold to $8190.
Regional Development Minister John Barilaro said government planned to shift from physical campuses to provide "a more blended model" of education - which has raised questions about the delivery of rural on-the-job, practical learning.
An announcement on the future of TAFE is not expected until November, but this week Mr Barilaro said savings from campus cuts would be invested in online learning, technology upgrades, subsidies for disadvantaged learners and programs for teachers to host lessons at rural and regional businesses.
But critics said government's app-roach ignored the needs of the bush.
A parliamentary inquiry into the future of Vocational Education and Training in NSW attracted 273 submissions and through public hearings unveiled industry and educator concerns around course access.
Rural Skills Australia told the inquiry regional residents were among the most impacted by Smart and Skilled.
"Farm managers do not have the time to be distracted from their essential daily activities by having to watch over others who may or may not be under their duty of care," the submission said.
"The cost burdens on trainees/students, for example, travel and accommodation and lost time off the job are often sufficiently prohibitive in regional Australia to influence enrolments to training programs."
NSW Greens education spokesman John Kaye was concerned TAFE would become a "tick-the-box" classroom.
"This is a recipe to take away opportunities for people to engage in new skills - particularly in dynamic industries like agriculture," Mr Kaye said.
"The minister wants to take away the visible presence of TAFE and hope that people take it up online. That's a dangerous future that is likely to lead to substantial de-skilling for rural communities."
TAFE enrolments, currently about 500,000 statewide, have declined across several years.
The June state budget revealed a drop of 83,000 students between 2012 and 2015.
A leaked cabinet document last month revealed 27 TAFE sites would be sold this year to raise $63 million, including regional campuses at Grenfell, Scone, Dapto, Vincentia, Maclean, Murwillumbah, Corowa, and Narrandera.
Another 21 sites were identified for partial closure, including Albury, Goulburn, Forbes, Muswellbrook, Bourke and Ballina.
Mr Barilaro said some of the sites identified, including Albury, were incorrect, but he confirmed the government was reviewing assets.
"For a long time people have seen TAFE as a physical asset. We've got to see it in a different way," Mr Barilaro said.
"It may not be the same physical campus that they see today. They're not fit for purpose and they've got declining (student) numbers.
"(They) want to learn online, they want to learn in the workplace, they want a blended delivery of training.
"They don't want to be in an old classroom."
NSW Teachers' Federation TAFE organiser Kathy Nicholson said closing campuses and cutting teacher jobs would damage bush towns.
"You're not just taking away a campus and jobs, you're also taking away the salaries of those people who would be working in those towns," Ms Nicholson said.
"If (regional kids) decide to leave school early, what is there for them?
"What if their literacy and numeracy skills are insufficient?
"How will throwing them online benefit them?
"It's only the people with the prior knowledge, experience, the resources, and the motivation who will be able to do the online and flexible courses.
"We will be counting the impact of this in regional areas for a generation."
Grenfell’s charitable gardeners in Limbo
GRENFELL TAFE's future is up in the air following the state government's vocational education reforms with locals fearing sale of the campus would also force the closure of their only nursery.
Weddin Community Native Nursery, which propagates 20,000 plants annually for local revegetation projects, operates from the grounds of Grenfell TAFE's campus.
For the past three years the nursery's premises on the campus was guaranteed, but staff were recently advised by TAFE administration they may need to relocate.
Speculation over the potential sale put the campus's value at about $1million.
Coral White, one of 10 nursery volunteers, said selling the campus would waste three years of the volunteers' hard work.
"If we had to relocate, we'd be looking at paying $200 a week and we haven't got that type of money," Mrs White said.
"It would be a huge shame for our town and local farmers, who are our main customers."
The looming reforms to TAFE include shifting course content from classrooms to online.
Nursery volunteer Dennis Simpson (pictured with Mrs White) said he could not understand how this would benefit the agriculture sector.
"There are some courses which you just can't transfer online. You need to be out in the bush walking around and you need to be back in the facilities studying what you find," Mr Simpson said.
He said students wouldn't sign up for agricultural courses if they were theory based or involved travelling long distances.
"These are serious courses we're talking about - we're growing our nation's food."
- JESSIE DAVIES