The teaching union fears two TAFE Illawarra campuses could face the same fate as Dapto, with staff worried dangerously low enrolments could force closures.
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NSW Teachers Federation TAFE organiser Rob Long said staff had informed him a minimal amount of students had enrolled at Moss Vale and Ulladulla for semester two, and wanted to raise this with the Minister for Skills and Small Business John Barilaro.
The minister was in the region on Wednesday to meet staff and students at the Nowra campus and also the Illawarra Business Chamber, but did not meet with the federation.
Mr Long said the decline in applications and enrolments was directly linked to a massive hike in fees due to the Smart and Skilled structure, which has prompted an upper house inquiry.
‘‘The Teachers Federation is very concerned about the impact of Smart and Skilled on students’ ability to enrol at TAFE; Minister Barilaro needs to come out publicy and explain why there’s been a reduction in student enrolments and how he’s going to fix the problems, and discuss the real impact the fee structure is having,’’ Mr Long said.
Mr Barilaro would not give a direct comment to the Mercury about the campuses in question, but said considerable investment had been poured into TAFE facilities in the southern Illawarra region and a new scholarship program was being offered to help with increasing fees.
‘‘Local Shellharbour and Yallah campuses have been upgraded to deliver training linked to areas of employment growth including in community services, health services and primary industries,’’ Mr Barilaro said.
‘‘Enrolments are growing in a range of industry areas including building and construction with carpentry at Wollongong campus enrolling nine stage one apprentice groups; the strongest enrolment in the past decade.’’
A fee-free scholarship initiative had been launched, aimed at helping 15 to 30-year-olds on welfare benefits by waiving their fees, he said.
Up to 50,000 young people statewide would receive free training in the next year, with priority given to NSW Social Housing residents and those on the waiting list for social housing.
Meantime, the future of Dapto’s campus was side-stepped by the Minister and TAFE Illawarra, despite the campus looking like a ghost town when semester began on Monday. It’s understood there is only one course operating, with eight continuing students.
A TAFE Illawarra spokeswoman confirmed there were no new student enrolments and they had only received one student application for the term.
Official enrolment numbers for Ulladulla and Moss Vale were unable to be confirmed as they were ‘‘still being processed’’, although students wanting to study courses offered there would be moved to a nearby campus if numbers meant a class was not viable.
