The South and West Australian state governments’ cuts to subsidiaries for hundreds of vocational courses has created a wave of anger amongst many private training providers. The controversial approach to vocational education changes is likely to have a negative impact on many RTOs.
In May 2015, it was announced that from July South Australia would reduce the number of courses receiving state government subsidiaries from 900 to 700. It was publicised that the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) SA would offer the majority of training places subsidised with government funding.
Those courses being dropped from state funding include approximately 12 certifications in automotive technology, sales and administration. Other courses due to lose tuition subsidiaries, include business administration, animal studies, and printing and graphic arts.
The Minister for Higher Education and Employment, Gail Gago, announced that these course will still be available but only at the full price.
Gago added that the shift in state funding of courses is aimed at providing training and courses that offer graduates better employment prospects.
The cuts to vocational training state subsidies in South and West Australia has caused anger amongst RTOs, which warn that the regions would be adversely affected by the changes.
Vocational training providers in South Australia have said they are being forced out of training due to the fact that as of June, TAFE SA will provide 46,000 out of the 51,000 new training courses.
Criticism has been made that the cuts in funding for many courses will inevitably come at the cost of jobs and increase the rate of youth unemployment.
As Caroline Graham of Regional Skills Training, which offers agricultural and farming courses said:
“In our particular industry we are certainly the biggest training provider.”
“We work with about 50 schools across the state that will be pulled out, we won’t be able to have any trainees, which is a completely untenable situation as far as the regions and the industries are concerned,” Graham added.
The SA and WA Governments have defended the move, stating that training course could still be provided by RTOs but at the full price.
RTO Materials offer a realistic solution
If you are an RTO affected by the controversial reductions in SA and WA State funding of many vocational courses, RTO Materials can help out.
We offer a comprehensive range of high quality training resources and training course materials for low prices.
Our affordable course materials are all written to pass audit and are available for a broad range of training courses, some of which have been affected by the recent reductions in funding.
With cost-effective, quality course materials at your disposal, your RTO may still be able to offer the courses to students, regardless of the lack of government funding.
For samples of our course materials and to see which course we provide for contact Sarah at sarah@rtomaterials.com.au.
