The National Union of Students welcomes the proposed Labor inquiry into post-school education in Australia. Since 2014 higher education has seen three major reforms proposed and fail while universities have come to terms with some of the deep-rooted problems of the demand driven system.
“The demand driven system has given more students access to university who otherwise would not have had the opportunity,” said NUS National President Mark Pace. “However, since it’s full introduction in 2012, we’ve seen successive governments cut over $5 billion to the sector; threatening the quality and equity of our education system.”
The National Union of Students will advocate reviewing the impact of private providers in the sector, in particular private providers that exploit vulnerable prospective students.
“Students across Australia have been exploited by tertiary education providers who have failed to adequately uphold the high standards of the Australian education system,” said Mr Pace.
“We have heard from students who have contacted NUS with stories about recruiters from dodgy private providers pressuring prospective students into enrolling in courses that simply do not meet the quality standards the Australian public have of the sector.”
“Across the country, TAFE is in crisis – the failure of sixteen randomly selected TAFE SA courses to pass a regulatory audit is just the beginning.”
“NUS supports radical reform within post-secondary education that revises policies that have failed university and TAFE students,” said Mr Pace. “We call on the Australian Labor Party to ensure student representatives are part of the panel that shall prepare the terms of reference for the national inquiry.
“Student engagement in the inquiry will be vital to ensure any recommendations or changes to higher education reflect the values and principles of over one million post-secondary students in Australia” Mr Pace said.
Mark Pace National President | National Union of Students
