We Used to be the smart country but now we are dumb

Once if you were down and out you could always afford to go back to a TAFE College and gain skills that could help you back into the workforce. Not these days though, I'll give evidence of me, as a pensioner it will cost $1995 at TAFE to get the Cert IV Workplace Assessment and training, no discounts or government assistance.

So what hope do you have????? Exactly none, nada, zilch!

So now they want people that are struggling to go into debt to get a TAFE Certificate. I guess John Howard knows our pain! Crap!

HECS should be extended to TAFE - expert

By David Crawshaw

November 14, 2006 01:56pm
Article from: AAP

HECS should be extended to TAFE to encourage more young Australians to take up traditional trade courses, a training industry expert has said.
David Hind, who heads the Business Higher Education Roundtable, today also called for tax breaks for Australian businesses that offer traditional apprenticeships or whose employees enrol in full-time TAFE study.

Mr Hind was speaking to the heads of Australia's TAFE colleges who are meeting in Adelaide for their national conference this week, where the skills shortage is top of the agenda.

He said expanding the HECS and FEE-HELP Loan Scheme to vocational education and training (VET), along with higher apprentice wages, could entice more young Australians to take up traditional trade careers.

TAFE students pay upfront fees to enrol in their courses, while under-graduate university students are able to pay back part of the cost of their degree through the HECS scheme once their income reaches a certain level.

"I believe we should advocate HECS for VET, and FEE-HELP,'' Mr Hind said.

''(But) not to replace government funding as they unfortunately have done with HECS at universities during the past decade.''

HECS had not proven to be a disincentive for lower socio-economic students wanting to study at university, he said.

Mr Hind said offering tax breaks for businesses could encourage them to provide their employees with greater skills.

"I believe we should encourage governments to make it easier for employers to ... integrate skills development for their employees,'' he said.

"Particularly ... tax breaks for fulltime TAFE study, and traditional apprenticeship incentives.''
Australian business for some time had under-invested in training employees, he said.

Mr Hind urged TAFE colleges to become more flexible and innovative in partnering with private industry, warning they could not rely solely on government funding.

Department of Education, Science and Training deputy secretary, Jim Davidson, told the gathering there would be major problems ahead in replacing the TAFE workforce, as many staff would retire in the next 10 to 15 years.

Federal opposition education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin addressed the conference today, reiterating Labor's pledge to boost apprentice wages and pay trade apprentices course completion bonuses of $2000 to reduce high drop-out rates