Higher Education Activism Without Vocation

Action on higher education policy is a core aspect of activism at universities. While this work is important and necessary, something is fundamentally missing from our demands and our narratives. Education activists demand the opportunity for everyone who wishes to attend university to be able to do so, and to be able to do so for free. This demand is of fundamental importance and the fight for free university education must continue until it becomes a reality. However, not all higher education happens in universities and not everybody who wants or needs further education will attend one.

Vocational education in Australia is in a state of disarray. If our demands for higher education policy reform are to be coherent, far-reaching, and truly inclusive, we should be fighting in solidarity with TAFE and other vocational students. The quality of vocational education in Canberra has plummeted; courses are changed while students are partway through them, and training often leaves students in debt while not meeting the minimum standards for the job pathways advertised.

Around the country, the problem is significantly worse. The influx of private providers combined with course cuts to publicly funded institutes and TAFE centres over the past decade has left vocational students vulnerable to exploitation by for-profit con artists. These private ‘colleges’ often recruit students for whom the courses are blatantly unsuitable by using salespeople on commission. There have been incidents of salespeople signing intellectually disabled students up for $25,000 courses without their knowledge or consent. Some providers charge upwards of the cost of a medicine degree for a low-quality diploma which offers few skills and few prospects upon completion.

A report by the Australian National Audit office in 2015 found that some qualifications had a completion rate of just 7%. Students incurred hefty debts while providers gained large profits while delivering very little. Meanwhile, the public providers are struggling to cover the basic costs of teaching with their meagre funds, let alone spending on the necessary resources and additional support staff for students with disabilities and limited English.

Prior to coming to the ANU I completed a Certificate IV through a private vocational provider. I was lucky enough to have the cost covered by my employer at the time, as the qualification has now been rendered virtually useless. The trainers have been fined nearly seven million dollars for meeting none of the minimum standards for their courses and taking negligent shortcuts and liberties with government and student money, for profit. My story is not an uncommon one; this situation is widespread and implicitly condoned by government policies and regulatory inaction.