NSW teachers union has slammed TAFE Illawarra for trying to use teaching staff as a ‘‘scapegoat’’ after it was found that an entire class of early education students may not get their graduation documents because they were unaware of outstanding fees.
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Sarah Sladek, 22, and her entire diploma of education and care class were told on June 2 they each owed outstanding amounts of $1200 with a ‘‘no payment, no certificate’’ policy, despite requesting fee information from administration staff several times throughout the year.
Last week the institution said the misinformation error would have been due to ‘‘teachers of the sections they were enrolling in’’, and has since released a statement formally apologising to the group for the debacle.
NSW Teachers Federation president Maurie Mulheron said it was a ‘‘low blow’’ as the system had been weakened by a huge number of sackings of teachers and support staff. He labelled the new Smart and Skilled fee structure as ‘‘failed technology’’ which had caused people great heartache.
‘‘The fact they didn’t receive letters, and things didn’t go out, and they had problems with enrolment ... all that’s just rubbing salt into the wound, but the actual wound is Smart and Skilled,’’ Mr Mulheron said.
The new fee structure introduced on January 1, 2015, based fees on qualifications instead of an annual fee. Mr Mulheron said the crux was Smart and Skilled had taken money out of education and instead put into the hands of ‘‘for-profit companies’’.
‘‘There’s courses before Smart and Skilled that only cost hundreds of dollars ... and this year cost many thousands of dollars to do, and what is happening is kids are simply turning away. They simply cannot afford it, and [it’s] just putting kids into a debt cycle.’’
The issue was also raised with NSW Minister for Skills Giovanni Barilaro. However, his office supplied only a copy of the TAFE Illawarra statement that had been presented 24 hours earlier.
Since the original article was published on June 10, several more people have come forward with similar cases. Mr Mulheron said it was a growing problem and he wouldn’t be surprised if there were thousands more cases.
The NSW upper house has launched an inquiry into TAFE and the causes of privatisation, with public submissions being taken until the end of July.
‘‘[Sarah Sladek’s] story is no different to what we’re hearing in just about every single TAFE college. So what we’re urging is people – students, parents, teachers, employers – tell the story of what’s going on, let the community know through this inquiry,’’ Mr Mulheron said.
