The call on the federal government to guarantee public technical and further education funding

Former teacher Fiona Phillips writes an opinion piece calling on the federal government to guarantee public TAFE [technical and further education] funding and put a stop to their “privatization agenda.” Phillips, the Labor candidate for Gilmore, wrote “I am immensely glad that a Shorten Labor Government has already committed to guarantee that every two out of three dollars raised in vocational education funding will go to public TAFE. The Liberal Government needs to also guarantee public TAFE funding and they need to stop their TAFE privatization agenda. We are already at the stage nationally where TAFE is almost a minority provider (50.3%). Nationally more than 10,000 TAFE teachers have lost their jobs, many in our local areas. This has to change. TAFE is too good to lose.”