THE NSW government is spruiking it as a giant step for the state’s training sector, but critics claim the Smart and Skilled reforms should be renamed Dumb and Dumber.
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In a move that has blindsided the industry, a new contract tender process has plunged into doubt the future of a number of local training providers.
One local agency has branded the process “an absolute disaster”, another has seen its government contract slashed by more than 90 per cent, and a third has been awarded a contract for just $900 – not even enough to cover the course cost.
Worryingly, just seven of the 138 organisations awarded contracts in the New England are local, many with no staff or infrastructure in the region.
Meanwhile, the teachers’ union has warned the policy could wound the TAFE sector and result in fewer teaching hours and larger class sizes.
NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli has shrugged off the controversy as the by-product of a competitive tender process, saying the changes would make vocational education more efficient, accessible and transparent.
But hidden amid the weasel words is an inconvenient truth for the minister and the government.
By using a “tick and flick” tender process – in other words, judging providers against cost benchmarks rather than quality – the government could be jeopardising the standard of education students receive.
It stands to reason smaller community colleges and locally based training agencies are most in touch with the needs of residents.
Yet they are the providers that have been hit hardest.
Of course, the government has an obligation to rein in spending in a sector often accused of being on the gravy train.
But it must not do so at the expense of those agencies offering affordable, effective training – the sort of training that helps change lives.