By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
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TAFE graphic arts and printing teacher Terry O’Neill cannot bear to think of the wasted young talent when funding cuts of $25.5 million bite at Chisholm Institute of TAFE.
Mr O’Neill, who has taught at Chisholm and Holmesglen TAFE for 12 years, intends to retire next year and so has no fears for his own welfare, but said staff morale was “pretty bad” as they contemplate the possibility of mass sackings and redundancies.
“Our course appears to be safe until the end of the year, but everything’s unknown.”
Last week, the Victorian TAFE Association predicted at least 200 jobs would go from metropolitan TAFEs by July because of the state budget cuts. Statewide, there may be more than 2000 job losses after January.
Mr O’Neill said TAFEs might have expected a “bad enough” $30million cut statewide – on top of $40 million sliced last year – but not the $300million hit announced in last month’s budget.
There was still a resolve by staff to “go 100 per cent” to help their students succeed, but education was becoming the province of the privileged, he said.
Several students who spoke to the Weekly had not heard about the cuts.
But student Cory Adams, who is studying maths in the hope of training as a technician in the Australian Army, despaired at the impact. He said without the TAFE course, he’d have to go back to secondary school where he was bullied.
Student Ramzy, a former labourer who is studying English and maths in hope of finding a new career, labelled the cuts as “pathetic”. He didn’t know what alternatives he’d have for study outside TAFE.
Chisholm is yet to announce what jobs and courses will be reduced or lost altogether.
Higher Education and Skills Minister Peter Hall has said the cuts are part of a “refocus” of training that includes an additional $1 billion over the next four years.
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