By CATHERINE WATSON and SAMANTHA ROBIN
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DANDENONG Labor MP John Pandazopoulos says cuts to TAFE funding in the state budget will hurt the local economy as well as students.
Chisholm Institute – which has campuses in Dandenong, Berwick, Cranbourne and Frankston – has estimated the budget cuts will cost it $20 million a year.
Mr Pandazopoulos believes the Dandenong campus could lose as much as $7 million or $8 million, with roll-on effects for the regional economy.
“Dandenong has become a regional centre for education. Students come from miles around and they buy takeaways here, they buy petrol. That’s money they won’t be spending here if they go elsewhere.”
Apart from apprentices, students who start training in the second half of this year are expected to pay higher fees for many courses, while existing students will pay more from next year.
Mr Pandazopoulos said students would be forced to opt for private colleges that could offer lower fees because staff were paid less and their facilities were not as good.
“This is about partially privatising the TAFE industry because it is cheaper for a government to force students out of the public system.”
Chisholm Institute chief executive officer Maria Peters said the institute was working through the ramifications of “this regrettable decision”, and necessary changes to courses and fees would become clearer over the next few weeks.
She expressed surprise at the timing of the cuts. “We need a vibrant and robust public TAFE if we are to meet the education and training challenges within the region and industry needs. Our residents should be ensured greater access to quality training, especially for the most disadvantaged.”
Education Minister Martin Dixon told the Weekly the current TAFE subsidies had been expected to cost the government $900 million but the figure had already exceeded $1.3 billion.
“No government could sustain that. The hard decisions that need to be made are being made.”
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