MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (12:17:19): What I can advise the house is that when I go around and visit TAFEs, which I do on a very regular basis, people advise me that their classrooms are full and that there is a real emphasis on completing their course because they know that there is a job at the end of their course. That has not been the case in the past. In fact there have been more people—the retention rates when it comes to free TAFE are higher than what they have been— Ms Wooldridge: How would we know? You don’t publish them. Ms TIERNEY: Because people are still in training, Ms Wooldridge. You still do not get the point—that, in terms of people undertaking courses, they are still there. So they have not withdrawn; they have not in fact left their courses. The department’s 2017 training market report shows that almost three quarters of students achieved their main reason for training, even if they did not complete their course. And what I can say is that early indications show that more students are continuing their training— (Time expired)
Category: Parliament