Bush to feel the burn of TAFE slashes

In 2012, the then O’Farrell government announced $1.7 billion of cuts to the overall education budget over four years, which included an $800 million hit to TAFE funding.

Teaching numbers were in decline, with significant reductions across regional NSW.

Most recently, TAFE lost $51m in the 2014-15 NSW budget, compared with the previous budget, when adjusted for inflation.

The Smart and Skilled policy, which the Coalition introduced soon after forming government, will open up the vocational tertiary training market to private providers, which the government has said will boost market competition and reduce public spending.

TAFE New England head teacher of agriculture Phil Pamment said funding cuts to date had resulted in several courses being dropped, reduced options for electives within existing courses and shifted practical courses online.

“We’re not offering the whole range of units in our courses any more,” Mr Pamment said.

““In days gone by we basically had the whole scope of units (for a diploma) on our registration, but we only have maybe 20 now.

“We’ve stopped running horse courses because of liability issues.

“If we end up in a situation where WorkCover is investigating an accident and a student says I only got five hours of face-to-face delivery out of a 100-hour course, WorkCover will turn around and say ‘did this student receive adequate training?’.

“They expect us to deliver more cheaply, be more efficient and be more accountable for the same or less amount of money – but it’s not possible.”

Mr Pamment said practical issues made it difficult for students in the bush to access online learning material.

There was a push to save money by moving courses online, but this was an unachievable task given the parlous state of regional internet services.

“A significant proportion of people in the bush can’t study online because their internet connection makes it impossible,” Mr Pamment said.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said TAFE would be funded alongside the private sector to ensure equitable outcomes were delivered.

“The Smart and Skilled reform package will increase the capacity of individual students to choose the qualification they want either through a TAFE NSW Institute, Adult and Community Education provider or an approved private training provider,” Mr Piccoli said.

“TAFE NSW and Adult Community Education will continue to receive public funding to support their vital roles in meeting industry and community needs.

“I am confident in the ability of TAFE and the community education sector to thrive in a competitive environment and continue to deliver quality services.”

Greens Upper House MP John Kaye said he had seen other States go down a similar route, and that a “free-fall collapse” loomed for NSW’s TAFE system.

He recently introduced the TAFE Changes Moratorium Bill to halt the Coalition’s Smart and Skilled policies and ensure TAFE remained the dominant provider of vocational education and training in NSW.

The Bill now awaits debate in the Lower House.

Mr Kaye said interstate examples showed TAFE institutes had not competed successfully with other registered training organisations.

“We have seen similar models on the eastern seaboard result in devastating consequences,” he said.

“Private providers cherry-pick cheap, profitable courses and leave TAFE with more expensive, less competitive options.”

Mr Kaye warned the outcome would be negative for regional NSW.

“TAFE has a history of operating annexes and small colleges, but private providers go for the efficient solution of aggregating services into big centres,” Mr Kaye said.

He said this scenario would drain the regional skills base.

“I am concerned for kids in the bush who will have to drive hundreds of kilometres to get to their courses or move to the city.

“The last thing we want is young people looking for a qualification moving to regional centres or the city.

“Depopulation of smaller communities is one of the great challenges facing NSW.”

LACK of funding for highly successful and popular TAFE biological farming courses on the North Coast has meant facilitators have been forced to trial a user-pays system.

Offers for next semester courses, under a trial TAFE commercial services format where farmers pay the major portion of the costs, are due this week.

Since its inception in 2007 at the instigation of the progressive Northern Rivers organisation SoilCare Inc, more than 300 farmers have completed the 18-week biological farming TAFE course.

Until 2012, it was funded by the federal government and corporate sponsors through Landcare, with farmers who submitted biological soil management plans for their farms at the completion of the course reimbursed their fees.

From fruit, vegetable and nut growers to graziers, dairies and bush food producers, farmers have used the courses to build in resilience to both wet and dry conditions, lift yields, reduce input costs, improve water quality both on and off farm, increase conservation outcomes and set up more sustainable operations.

Bonnie Walker, from SoilCare Inc, said interest in biological training has grown on the back of farmers relating declining productivity to soil health and looking to alternative systems to secure longer-term viability.

The courses allowed producers to gain knowledge and management skills across a range of practical and effective solutions, from building soil structure and reducing the risk of acidification to using green manure and cover crops to control erosion and setting up integrated pest management systems, she said.

For Northern Rivers organic coffee growers Corinne Bauer and Arthur Muehlheusser, who were among the first farmers to complete the course in 2007, training in biological practices has been the cornerstone to targeting a niche market.

“It is also about farming under principles we believe in,” said Ms Bauer.

The couple have 33,000 trees under production at Koonorigan, near Nimbin, and sell their Green Mountain Coffee to organic retailers across the country.

- with SHAN GOODWIN