IVAN Valderrama is the human face of the crisis facing Melbourne’s west over the state government’s $300 million TAFE funding cuts.
Speaking at a community meeting in Newport last Thursday, the Colombian migrant said he feared for those who couldn’t afford to study English as a second language (ESL) from next year.
Victoria University teacher Anne Dowling, who will next year lose her job, said fees for ESL courses in 2013 would more than double.
Mr Valderrama, who will this year complete his English certificate IV at VU’s St Albans campus, said the course had enabled him to lead a new life. Now able to speak English, he intends to study mechanical engineering at the University of Melbourne and work in the science or engineering sector. “I think that without these courses I wouldn’t be applying next year for a higher education course. For me, this [ESL] course was vital,” he said.
Victorian TAFE Association executive director David Williams described the TAFE cuts as “absolutely immoral”. The cuts include $170 million in the removal of full service provider [FSP] funding for things such as counselling services, disability liaison officers and libraries.
“The government hopes that a substantial amount of [a further] $130 million can be recovered in increased student fees,” Mr Williams said. “So, as well as many TAFE course fees increasing substantially, a wide variety of courses will no longer be offered in many TAFEs across Victoria — for example, in areas such as business administration, hospitality, retail, events management, sport and recreation.”
Mr Williams said fees for government-subsidised diplomas would rise to between $3000 and $8500 a year at most TAFEs; the average probably $3500-$4000 a year.
The VTA had called for the annual $170 million FSP funding to be reinstated, but it was clear this would not happen, he said.
LeadWest chief executive Anton Mayer told the meeting that Melbourne’s west would bear the brunt of the cuts. He said the region historically had lower levels of year 12 completion. “This is particularly the case in Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Melton and Wyndham. “Unemployment is particularly high among people born in non-English-speaking countries at 10.6 per cent within the region.”
A petition of more than 28,000 signatures against the cuts will be presented to State Parliament this week.
National Tertiary Education Union president and Friends of Victoria University spokesman Paul Adams said VU was the people’s university.
“Its role, traditionally, has been to provide access for a diverse range of people and communities who would not normally gain access to education.”
He said the VU TAFE cuts of about $40 million represented a quarter of the institution’s revenue.
“VU has been hardest hit because it is an institution that supports students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.”
