Liberals fund private corporations while destroying TAFE

The NSW state government is providing private companies with tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars to fund staff training. One example: a freedom of information request by the NSW Greens found that McDonald’s was awarded almost $2 million to cover education and training expenses.

Public education institutions such as TAFE colleges have to compete with corporations and private colleges for funding under current arrangements. In the past few years, many courses have been cut from TAFEs around the country, and more than 300 staff members have lost their jobs.

Funding is delivered under the “Smart and Skilled” program, which nominally allows students to choose their preferred training provider. This competition, along with the constant cuts to education funding, rising student fees and attacks on student welfare, makes it increasingly difficult for students from poor and working class families to access higher education.

Maurie Mulheron from the NSW Teachers Federation has called for limits on the amount of public money for-profit companies can access. Many companies do not pay staff for the hours spent training. And workers at McDonald’s earn some of the lowest wages in Australia. A adult working full time at the restaurant chain earns $17-$20 an hour. Clearly, corporations such as these do not need government subsidies.

While the Victorian and NSW state governments continue to subsidise corporations’ training expenses, many private colleges are facing court action for misusing subsidies, and graduation rates are notoriously low. Yet, to compete with them, TAFE NSW has cut class hours, increased class sizes and cut teaching staff numbers by a third.

Federal education minister Simon Birmingham has promised a new scheme for 2017 to lock private companies out of funding by scrapping Labor’s VET FEE-HELP scheme. Birmingham speaks about developing “a range of different approaches to build transparent, improved arrangements”.

But it is unlikely that the Liberal government has any serious plan to de-fund big business. As long as corporations can profit from students, the Liberals will be happy to attack TAFE. It is important for students to fight back against these attacks on higher education.