Public vocational education, in Tasmanian public provider TasTAFE, is failing its students and that has not been more evident than in the countless stories emerging over the past fortnight.
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Course delays, cancellations, students left to teach themselves and assignments being marked up to six months after submission are all things that have been uncovered during The Examiner's investigation of TasTAFE over the past fortnight.
Stories of students having to teach themselves or modules being taught entirely online are not positive images for TasTAFE, as vocational education prides itself on being hands-on and caters for students who enjoy a different style of learning.
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While much has been made by the powers that be in Tasmanian and Federal Parliament about the fact TasTAFE has plans to sell and close the Launceston city campus and consolidate its courses at Alanvale, the discussion so far has failed to hit the nail on the head about what is truly wrong with TasTAFE's model of education.
The government has not addressed how the government and TasTAFE will and is addressing the significant structural problems regarding staff recruitment and teacher workload facing the provider.
Six months is far too long for students to wait for their assignments to be marked and students should not turn up to a course and have a teacher not to be there because of staff shortages.
While acknowledgement must be given that sometimes the unexpected happens and teachers can't be on call all the time, delays and absences are becoming far too common an experience.
Infrastructure, such as the move from the CBD to Alanvale, is only part of the solution to the problem - and the government's allocated $4 million (contingent on the sale of the Launceston city campus building) will not go far in making sure Alanvale is a fit-for-purpose and modern VET environment.
Serious attention needs to be made on addressing teacher recruitment issue, workloads and conditions because, despite the assurance that 91 teachers have been employed at TasTAFE in the past two years, recruitment and workload are having an impact on students and their outcomes.