Australia / Vocational Education / 25 TAFE campuses will be closed

At least 25 TAFE campuses will be closed in Queensland and more could follow under reforms to the vocational education and training sector.

Education Minister John Paul Langbroek has accepted 37 out of 40 recommendations in a taskforce report handed down earlier this month, while the other three have received in-principle support.

One of the recommendations was to close about half of the state’s 80-plus campuses.

However, a spokeswoman for Mr Langbroek told AAP that while the minister agreed there was a need to consolidate, he did not agree on the number.

She said 13 empty campuses would be closed and sold, while another 12 would be lost in a merger between Central Queensland University and Central Queensland Institute of TAFE…

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

via Qld govt approves TAFE closures | National – Regional | BigPond News.

‘Many TAFE campuses have no students while others are no longer fit for purpose, with the average age of TAFE assets being over 27 years.’ sais Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive Michael Roche.

Source: Government’s ringing endorsement of skills and training reform package | Sunshine Coast Queensland | News Article.

QUEENSLAND will avoid a “massive cost blowout” by rejecting a Victorian-style free-for-all in its open training market, the state government says.

But critics say the plan to concentrate training funds on the key industry areas of mining, construction, tourism and agriculture will damage rather than boost the economy.

The government yesterday supported all 40 recommendations of last month’s contentious Skills and Training Taskforce Report, but watered down a proposal to close 38 of the state’s 82 TAFE campuses.

Most other states are making similar moves to allow private colleges to compete for state training funds, and to give priority to courses considered most useful to industry. But plans to close campuses have so far been restricted to a handful in Victoria.

Queensland Training and Employment Minister John-Paul Langbroek said the government would rationalise campuses but had not settled on a number. He said 12 would be given to a university-TAFE merger in central Queensland and 13 would be sold, but additional closures were on hold.

Mr Langbroek said those earmarked for sale were mostly disused campuses in Brisbane and the proceeds would go to the TAFEs. “Instead of aged crumbling relics, we want people in better facilities.”

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Kevin Bates said it made sense to dispose of unused campuses. But he dismissed the government’s claims that many other campuses were only used 40 per cent of the time as a “self-fulfilling prophecy”.

“When successive governments have stripped resources out of TAFE, that’s why there might be under-utilisation of facilities.”…

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

via Queensland rejects TAFE free-for-all | Story & Education Stories | The Australian.