Training College Disaster !

It is clear to most Australian families that finishing an education with just the Higher School certificate will no longer deliver either a well paying job or any sort of job security.   The work force of the present requires higher education and this need will further accelerate as robotics replace manual labour.

University study is one option but this need has been complimented by a large number of training colleges setup to provide qualifications and these have attracted a wide mix of both local students and young people from other countries. These are " for profit " campuses and they receive accreditation under the VET student loan scheme.  The cost of the qualifications they provide require this money to be repaid once they reach an agreed earning level.

Unfortunately, the success rate of many of these training colleges is dismal.   They fail to meet the promise of their advertising literature and there have been several sudden closures that have left students in limbo - and owing money for courses that will not continue.   Australia is in danger of getting an adverse reputation on the world education market.

It seems that there are one hundred and fifty such educational colleges in danger of losing accreditation because of poor course completion rates and aggressive over recruitment methods getting unsuitable students to sign on the dotted line.   Such courses had absorbed $ 264 million of taxpayer funding and delivered just 14.7% of student graduation

The latest to crash and burn is Careers Australia and when it suddenly closed its doors it left fifteen thousand students stranded mid course and a thousand qualified career teachers unemployed.  This is a case of " voluntary administration " after it declared it lacked sufficient funds to meet its payroll and other expenses.   The Education Department said students should try and move to another provider - or seek a refund.

The need for further education has firmly taken root in the minds of young people and their parents.  The problem is that most are not qualified to fully understand course implications and can only rely on the literature provided.  They take VET accreditation as proof that the college meets government standards. It is also undesirable that many such institutions employ recruiters paid on a commission basis which results in a high intake of unsuitable students.

It is quite clear that the safeguards presently in place are not working.  Those seeking accreditation to VET funding need to meet a higher standard and this will only be achieved if the government puts aspiring new college proposals under a sharper microscope.  Not only must the financial setup of such institutions meet stricter guidelines, the day to day running needs firmer control to ensure that the courses deliver value for money.