For more than three years Victorians have watched the Napthine coalition government systematically destroy Victoria’s TAFE system.
Victorians have seen valuable teachers and staff sacked, campuses closed, courses cut and fees go through the roof.
We have seen educational opportunities to get ahead in life or make a new start for both young and older Victorians ripped away from their fingertips, and as a consequence we have seen youth unemployment skyrocket to the point that Victoria now has a youth unemployment crisis.
Last Thursday evening I attended a crowded TAFE forum in Geelong which addressed the issues that our TAFE system now has to deal with as a consequence of the Napthine government’s systematic destruction of the TAFE system.
Almost $23 million has been slashed from Gordon TAFE in Geelong, which has hurt the city’s most vulnerable. There were 136 job losses between 2012 and 2013. One teacher described the ongoing battle with the funding cuts in the following way:
- Staff have lost their enthusiasm … our hearts are sore knowing we can’t give our students the future they deserve …. When we lost staff, we lost people with expertise that we might never get back.
Victorians want a future, not a government that locks them out of TAFE, locks them out of training opportunities and locks them out of jobs.
People in Victoria know what this government has done to them and their children, and they will vote for their futures on 29 November.