Shadow Minister for Vocational Education, Tim Crakanthorp, joined Central Coast Labor MPs, students, staff and union members on Monday, November 8, to protest changes to TAFE classes.
They were opposing the NSW Government’s decision to end semester one face-to-face learning and overall privatisation agenda.
The MPs said that from next year, the NSW Liberal Government would force every student entering a Certificate III in Welding and Metal Fabrication, and Fitting and Machining at TAFE between the Central Coast and Queensland border to move to online learning.
They said that on top of cutting face-to-face TAFE, 144 hours of learning for local students would also be cut.
Tim Lumby, a second-year boilermaker said he might as well not go to TAFE if it moves online.
“When we did TAFE online it was very hard to zone in for six hours and it was difficult because we could not get any one-on-one learning done with our teacher,” he said.
“Numbers in our classes kept dropping every week and a lot of people missed out content.
“There was no hands-on learning and we all had to sort of patch the content together ourselves.
“To be honest, you would be better off skipping TAFE and staying at work five days a week – you would learn more,” Lumby said.
The NSW Government has labelled the changes a “trial”, but Labor said it was the latest attempt by the Government to apply further cutbacks and justify privatisation.
Crakanthorp said the Liberal Government would drive students out of TAFE and then claim enrolments were down and the building was a waste.
“That’s their path to privatisation – this is the thin edge we are being pushed towards.
“The reality is our TAFE system is being decimated from within and our students are suffering,” Crakanthorp said.
Shadow Minister for the Central Coast and Wyong MP, David Harris, said that as an educator and former principal, he understood that online learning was not a model that worked for all students, particularly in areas where hands-on applications were vital.
“The NSW Government should have a mixed model of delivery which does not close face-to-face courses for students,” he said.
Swansea MP, Yasmin Catley, said TAFE was the backbone of the community and we had some of the largest numbers of TAFE qualified people in our workforce living on the Central Coast.
“We are proud of that but this Government has done nothing but gut our TAFE and hurt our future,” she said.
The Entrance MP, David Mehan, said employers were telling them that they needed trained staff and TAFE was the best way to provide this.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch, has been asked for comment.
Source:
Media release, 8 Nov
Central Coast Labor MPs