Dapto TAFE campus will soon resemble a ghost town with no future students enrolled in courses at the site and staff now being redistributed, a teachers’ union organiser says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NSW Teachers Federation TAFE organiser Rob Long said he was informed in a meeting on Tuesday that all Dapto campus staff would be moved to other sites by October.
The finance department had already shifted to West Wollongong, while human resources was scheduled to follow suit by the end of August, he said.
Information technology support team members still located at the Dapto campus were also preparing for an imminent move to Corrimal, Mr Long said.
He said the relocation of administrative staff appeared to be an ominous sign for the campus’s future and the strongest hint yet the campus was on the brink of closure.
‘‘There’s one IT class on a Tuesday for two hours and that’s scheduled to finish up in the last week of September and I understand there are no classes booked from October to December this year,’’ Mr Long said.
A TAFE Illawarra spokeswoman confirmed the relocation of some staff from Dapto.
‘‘The TAFE Illawarra human resources section is expected to move from Dapto campus in the next couple of months. The date is yet to be confirmed,’’ she said.
‘‘The movement of corporate service business areas has no impact on the delivery of educational and training services on the Dapto campus.’’
In response to questions on the campus’s future, the spokeswoman said the facilities at Dapto campus would be retained by TAFE NSW ‘‘while ever they are required for delivery of approved educational training programs’’.
Shellharbour MP Anna Watson said it was obvious the government had been planning to wind down the campus for some time.
‘‘It’s just a disgrace,’’ she said.
‘‘They have been gutting this campus piece by piece for over two years.’’
Ms Watson blamed a decline in applications and enrolments at the campus on the massive hike in fees due to the Smart and Skilled structure.
‘‘They call it Smart and Skilled, but there’s nothing smart about it, there’s nothing skilled about it, it’s just dumb and dumber,’’ she said.
Fearing the campus could be lost by the end of the year, Ms Watson urged Illawarra residents to write to Premier Mike Baird calling on the state government to retain the Dapto site.
‘‘The Dapto community now needs to get behind the campaign and send a clear message to this draconian state Liberal government that their TAFE campus is not up for sale,’’ she said.
The Mercury contacted Minister for Skills and Small Business John Barilaro for comment but did not receive a reply by deadline.