Six Training Ministers - the mingy half dozen
Feb 02, 2012
David Pisoni MP
Shadow Minister for Education
Shadow Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education
Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Development
Six Training Ministers - the mingy half dozen
South Australian TAFE students now know why they are burdened with the highest fees in the nation.
The Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services 2012 has revealed that the Labor Government in South Australia has fallen behind with funding of Vocational Education and Training (VET) over the past decade.
The report found that South Australian VET funding increases have remained almost stagnant at 3.4 per cent over the last decade under the Labor Government, while states such as Victoria and Western Australia have increased their budgets by up to 30 per cent over the same period.
Individual student funding has reduced in real terms by $21 per student since 2000.
The Report also confirms that Labor’s training funding shortfall has cut off employers from the training process with less than 29 per cent engaged with the VET system – the lowest in the nation.
“It’s time Minister Kenyon – the sixth Labor Government Training and Skills Minister in six years – focused more on jobs and opportunities for South Australians rather than on the personal trappings of office,” Shadow Minister for Training and Further Education David Pisoni said.
“Labor’s legacy for South Australia is to promise a mining and defence boom, but fails to deliver on the training required to prepare our workforce.
“VET funding plays a crucial role in up-skilling our workforce and preparing for the future.
“These latest figures show that the Labor spin of the last decade was more about keeping themselves in jobs rather than delivering real opportunities for South Australians.”