TAFE fees should be scrapped not turned into loans

"Dr Chapman and his colleagues are right to say that prospective TAFE students are put off by up front fees, but wrong to say fees should be turned into loans. Instead fees on key courses should be scrapped," Senator Nettle said.

"The economy suffers because TAFE fees discourage essential upskilling and retraining. The answer is to scrap fees.

"The costs associated with scrapping fees from at least some key TAFE courses will be offset by the productivity growth this extra training will supply.

"It would be a mistake to go down the road unversities have travelled introducing fees and then loans which have become bigger and bigger only to be replaced by full upfront fees later down the track.

"Education and training must be seen as a prudent investment by government not a cost. The starting point must be for education to be free to students, subsidised by government.

"State and Federal Governments should work with the TAFE community to identify key courses to begin the process of removing fees and increasing the funding to the sector to handle increased productivity.

Contact - Jon Edwards 0428 213 146