Fee free TAFE?

It is very clear we now have an election coming up in Downunder. It must be held by late September 2025.In reality it will probably be held in around May - after the present government has fudged the budget figures in its favour.

Like everything else a government does policies are made with the idea of clinging to power. Those policies may not be the best thing for the economy but their popularity is what will count.

It is most definitely with that in mind that the government is now saying there will be 100,000 extra places at TAFE and they will be "fee free".  This will not happen and it most certainly will not be free but the government can say it is the case.

It will not happen because the fine print suggests that only some courses will be free - those where there is a high demand for workers. These will be in the childcare and aged care sectors and the building trade. 

I do not know enough about the building courses to comment on their value but some builders have been complaining about what is taught. It seems they are facing the same sort of problem as employers in other areas. 

Childcare and aged care courses are often described as "mickey mouse" or "very low value".  I have seen the course outlines and have to agree. They teach very little. It would seem they are there more to try and show that someone has "done a course". These courses and courses like "food service" courses have been used over and over again to try and get work shy people into work. These are the courses which are often never quite completed so that the certificate is never acquired even at Level 1. Going on to Level 2 or Level 3 is not something they even want to contemplate. If you fail to complete the course and remain unemployed you never had to repay the fees. 

The fees are not as high as university fees and, so far, there has been no apparent pressure to "pass" a failing student in the way there often is at university level. It is unlikely this will ever happen.

But should those courses really be "fee free"? If they are then will some courses at TAFE be fee free and others not? Will the government really pay for courses in fashion, floristry, photography and the like? Will they pay for courses in recreation and sport? I suspect there will be limits imposed. There will need to be. 

If I lived close to a TAFE college and there was a course of interest to me would I be permitted to do it fee free even if I had no intention of working in that field? No, of course not. Restrictions will have to be imposed.

And what of the plan to cut other student debt by 20%. The government really has not thought that one through. I paid to go to university and so did many other people of my generation. I paid even more as an "oversea" student in another country. My nephews and their parents paid for their courses up front rather than have a debt burden later. It called for careful economising for years. There is no suggestion that they will be reimbursed now but students who chose to accumulate a debt will now have their debt cut by 20%. Is that really "fair". Those who paid up front were not wealthy and often worked harder to be sure of passing because they had already paid for it.  That 20% cut is now going to be spread out over taxpayers instead. 

It seems the government has not really thought this through - or at least past the next election.