I recently wrote about the impact of falling VET student numbers on Australia’s skilled labour force (see: Student Exodus Not Slowing). The Government’s continued diversion of education funding towards universities and away from skills-based training has led to an unbalanced view of the value of a university education among school leavers and a skills shortage that threatens our economy.
A report into Regional, Rural and Remote Education was released earlier this year, highlighting further the long-term negative effects of an education funding model that focuses so heavily on universities, particularly those based in Australia’s capital cities.
The study, conducted by Professor John Halsey, found that students from regional areas were less likely to achieve a bachelor degree or above compared to their inner-city counterparts. This finding, along with a range of related issues, led Professor Halsey to recommend that state and federal governments expand the availability, affordability and accessibility of high quality work experience placements, VET, dual VET/university options and two-year associate degree programs for regional students.
“TAFE has to be put back into the regions, closer to people, places and the heartland of much of Australia’s productivity,” Professor Halsey said in the report. Professor Halsey also recommended the federal government adopt a national education strategy to be adopted for regional, rural and remote areas, coordinated by a taskforce and with access to a dedicated training fund.
With a focus on ‘out of town’ education, is it any wonder that young people are looking to big cities for employment opportunities after their studies?
The release of this report is yet another black mark against the existing approach to vocational education funding in Australia. Much has been written by economists previously about the downturn in our regional and country towns. With a focus on ‘out of town’ education, is it any wonder that young people are looking to big cities for employment opportunities after their studies? And if businesses are unable to recruit local skilled staff, can we blame them for closing down?
Regional and rural-based VET businesses face the same compliance and operational challenges as those located in our major cities, but have less access to support services. As a provider of such services, we acknowledge the need to embrace technology to engage with and assist regional RTOs so they can continue to deliver much needed training.
But we also need to show our support for Professor Halsey’s recommendations, and put pressure on policy makers to adopt the actions he has put forward in his report. We’ve put a copy of the report up on our website for you to read: click here.
And, of course, if you run, or know someone who runs, a regionally-based RTO we’d love to hear from you directly about your challenges and how we can help. Drop us an email or give us a call today.