Kathleen Hadden was a cleaner at the now defunct Dapto TAFE campus for 26 years.
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As politicians and union representatives met outside the campus’ replacement – a connected learning centre – on Wednesday, Ms Hadden told of an education precinct once filled with “a real vibe”.
“Lovely students, fantastic teachers and beautiful staff; that’s all gone,” she said.
“Slowly over the years ... I’ve watched it be degraded, then they offer us this shop, which is really nothing.
“We’re a growing community and we deserve a better facility than this.” The Kanahooka woman has 10 grandchildren. Not all of them will go to university, she said.
“They need a local TAFE, they need a TAFE that’s viable,” she said. NSW Labor’s spokeswoman for skills Prue Car echoed the sentiment.
“Dapto [TAFE] is just an example of what they [the government] are doing across NSW,” she said.
“They set it up to fail and now they’ve opened this glorified information kiosk.”
Skills Minister John Barilaro will officially open the centre on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Barilaro said vocational training was “undergoing significant change and TAFE NSW must respond in a way that meets students demand for course delivery, eliminates duplication costs, reduces inefficiencies and provide the training for future jobs”.
