Page 316 - Week 01 - Thursday, 14 February 1991
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tourism promotion. Mr Deputy Speaker, I want to come back to the School of Tourism and Hospitality and these awards a little later.
Unfortunately TAFE does not have adequate funds to cover the number of courses sought by the community, even though the TAFE system enrols each year more students than the other ACT tertiary institutions combined - a figure which, I believe, has reached over 18,000 in the calendar year.
This strength is indicative of the high standard of ACT TAFE courses amongst both students and employers. However, unfortunately, even though such large numbers are accommodated, several thousand other potential students are turned away. In some cases TAFE limits these enrolments in particular areas in response to labour market forces - that is, industry simply is not able to provide employment opportunities in these areas and it makes no sense for the TAFE to train more people than can be employed with specific skills.
Mr Deputy Speaker, there are, however, several areas where industry is crying out for more TAFE trained workers - for example, in the computing industry, electronics and the business area. The number of people seeking enrolment in these courses recently could have filled up, I think, five times the number of classes that were available. This is, of course, a matter of concern, as sustaining and enhancing the skills of the ACT community is critical to the economic and social development of the ACT community.
A significant factor contributing to the high unmet demand is the higher retention rates being experienced in TAFE since the introduction of fees. There is no doubt that students are collectively more serious in their commitment once enrolled in courses and are more likely to see their studies through to completion. Limited funding, I believe, is the main reason for the high level of unmet demand. There is simply no solution, no single solution, to the resources constraint. There is no way any ACT government could fulfil all the vocational education the community might demand. TAFE cannot stretch its resources to provide the teachers and the related support needed to offer extra classes.
Savings are becoming progressively smaller, more difficult and less certain. The three-year funding agreement made last year between the ACT Government and TAFE will assist in the problem of unmet demand to some extent. The agreement provides a secure funding base for the institute which will assist in planning activities. The institute is looking to other sources for options to raise funds so that unmet demand might be alleviated. These include increasing fees for students, increasing commercial activities and increasing industry contribution to training. TAFE is pursuing all these options to make good the shortfall. Additional funding will be contributed directly by students as the institute pursues its three-year regime of fee
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