TasTAFE chief executive Jenny Dodd said course offerings remain predominantly the same year-to-year and are related to student demand and industry need, and not related to fees.

This comes after Opposition Education spokeswoman Michelle O’Byrne and Skills and Training spokeswoman Anita Dow claimed students would be left out in the cold with TasTAFE to increase fees by up to 3 per cent in 2019.

“It’s just unacceptable that the priority for the public trainer is to operate TasTAFE as a business rather than the provider of desperately needed skills training for Tasmanians,” Ms O’Byrne said.

Ms O’Byrne said next year several courses would be available online only rather than in a classroom setting and TasTAFE staff had also been told that because TasTAFE would run at a loss of 1.6 million this financial year, management’s priority was to increase revenue.

However, Ms Dodd said as the public training provider, TasTAFE worked closely with the state government to ensure its offerings met priority areas and industry needs to address Tasmania’s skill shortage industries.

Ms Dodd said the majority of student fees for TasTAFE would increase by up to 3 per cent but more students would be eligible for discounted fees and concessions.

“The decision to increase fees aligns with TasTAFE’s corporate plan objective to be a sustainable organisation,” Ms Dodd said.

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff described the comments by Labor as “cynical and hypocritical”.

“While there has been a small fee increase in 2019 it is in line with CPI. Diploma courses have been adjusted to meet delivery costs and students are able to access vet student loans to cover all tuition delivery costs,” he said.

“Labor's cynical and hypocritical TAFE stunt whitewashes over their terrible treatment of TAFE.”

TasTAFE increased its fees in 2016, a move Ms Dodd said was designed to “keep pace with CPI”, however, she said the vocational education provider was still affordable.

“In 2019 more students will be eligible for discounted fees and the ‘entitled’ fee rate has been extended to students that have previously completed a qualification.

“Prior to 2019, students who had completed a Certificate III or above in the last five years paid a higher fee than those who had not completed a prior qualification. This is no longer the case,” she said.

TasTAFE offers more than 250 nationally recognised qualifications and there are more than 120 courses offered in Launceston.

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