PRESSURE is building on the state government to reverse funding cuts after thousands of TAFE teachers and students last week marched on Parliament.
Last Thursday’s rally followed the delivery of a petition containing more than 1000 signatures to Premier Ted Baillieu.
The petition of Victoria University staff and students and western suburbs residents calls on the government to abandon about $300million in funding cuts that are expected to heavily affect students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Western Metropolitan Greens MP Colleen Hartland, who delivered the petition to the Premier last Tuesday, said the 1000 signatures were just
the tip of the iceberg of people
who wanted TAFEs to be well funded and to continue providing quality education in the west.
“Victoria University staff and students are already feeling the pain of the TAFE cuts as redundancies
take effect and courses are cut,”
she said.
Ms Hartland told Parliament
about 50per cent of Victoria University students were on a low income and may no longer be able to access education.
Federal Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans warned that Victoria’s share of vocational funding was being placed at risk by its cuts to the public TAFE sector.
But state Higher Education Minister Peter Hall said the government was making a record ongoing investment in vocational training while introducing essential reforms designed to save the system from collapse.
