Page 321 - Week 01 - Thursday, 14 February 1991
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There are areas, of course, where industry is simply crying out for TAFE-trained workers. An example of that is the computing and electronics area and, of course, the business area. It is noteworthy that the number of people seeking enrolment in these courses recently could have filled up to five times the number of classes available. I do not know whether that is indicative of the quality of the courses that are run by TAFE in those areas, whether it reflects an inability for some students to gain admission to other institutions that run courses of that kind, or whether, as I said before, in the public mind there might be a move away from other forms of education and into the TAFE system. I think we need to do some research on that. It is certainly a matter of some concern that in some of those areas there is a very high demand from candidates that cannot be accommodated.
I understand that one significant factor contributing to the high unmet demand is the higher retention rate being experienced in the TAFE since the introduction of the new fee structure last year. Students are collectively more serious in their commitment once enrolled in their courses and are more likely to see their studies through to completion because of that. So there are clearly a number of different factors working.
In terms of the availability of resources, it is obvious that there is no simple answer to it. We have entered into a three-year funding agreement with the TAFE. We have given them every opportunity to seek funding from other sources and we have agreed to putting up fees. Despite all of that, we cannot meet the demand. I think it has to be accepted that, no matter how effective the TAFE is in using the resources that are available to it, there will, in the short term at least, be an unmet demand. Of course, it is clearly impossible for this Government to provide all of the funds that would be required to accommodate all comers, much as we would like to. I think that in the longer term we may get closer to it, but for the time being it is going to be very difficult.
The TAFE management is doing a great deal to expand its commercial activities and I think there have been some very major successes. In fact, while I was in the United States recently I visited the Foothills Community College at Los Altos Hill in California, at which time I signed a twinning agreement between that college and the ACT TAFE. I see considerable benefit in the future from that initiative, taken by the director, in terms of the cross-flow of ideas, the cross-flow of information, and the exchange of staff members. Hopefully, some students in California who would otherwise be at Foothills Community College might be attracted to come and take at least some courses here in Canberra. I think that there are commendable efforts being made by the director and his staff to improve the quality and the performance of the TAFE.
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