THE state government’s plan to restore 64 staff positions that had been axed from Hunter and Central Coast TAFE campuses has sparked a political row.
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Shadow Minister for Skills, Prue Car, said the decision to re-hire TAFE teachers was an admission from the government that its “policy of deep cuts” had hurt TAFE “and the young people who depended on it”.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Hunter, Scot MacDonald, hit back. He said the decision to restore some staff positions was driven by growing student enrolments generated by the government’s improvements to TAFE.
Ms Car said reappointing 200 teaching jobs in TAFE state-wide represented “a drop in the ocean”.
“Since 2012, the Liberals have cut 5200 teaching and support roles meaning Tuesday’s announcement amounts to just 4 per cent of those roles being restored,” Ms Car said.
Some 185 permanent teachers had been sacked across the Hunter Institute, including 13 teachers on the Central Coast, she said.
“The government said it would restore 64 roles to the Hunter and Central Coast region – meaning two thirds of positions will be left unfilled.”
Re-hiring staff it had sacked less than four years ago was a false economy and policy on the run, Ms Car said.
“A few teaching jobs is not going to repair the damage that this government has wreaked on TAFE with staff cuts, campus closures and fee hikes.”
Mr MacDonald said staffing at NSW TAFE campuses “will always be driven by course demand and student numbers”.
“After years of under-investment by Labor in TAFE assets, TAFE IT, and TAFE modernisation, student numbers are once again increasing,” he said.
“The NSW government is tailoring courses to demand by employers and new sectors. The IT system is making TAFE competitive with the many providers of VET.”
He said Hunter TAFE managers were empowered to hire staff “as demand and capability requires”.
Mr MacDonald called on Ms Car to “stop talking down” TAFE in the Hunter and Central Coast.