NSW’s Minister for Skills John Barilaro told staff at TAFE Western in Orange he wanted to see the education provider grow.
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Taking questions from the staff on Monday, Mr Barilaro said there was no avoiding pain, but offered reassurances any cuts to staff would hit Sydney first.
Mr Barilaro said it wasn’t cash grab and he wanted any job loss to be balanced out with a job in regional NSW.
“This isn’t being driven by Treasury … there will be pain, I can’t hide that … we need to get rid of the top heavy structure,” he said.
“There’s no privatisation plans now or in the future.”
Mr Barilaro said the government’s aim was to ensure funding was going directly towards the education of students.
“It’s like flying an airplane through the sky and rebuild it at the same time because we still have to be focused on what we are trying to achieve and that’s the training outcome for young people so they can get jobs.”
Mr Barilaro said despite competition from private providers, TAFE was still the premier choice for vocational education and had 84 per cent of the market in NSW, compared to just 25 per cent in Victoria.
He said there was work to do to ensure TAFE remained a viable option for people looking to develop or change their careers.
“We’ve estimated 50,000 students are in university today who would have traditionally looked at vocational education as a pathway,” he said.
“We’re not convinced that all of them have been set up to succeed.
“For a couple of decades we’ve been selling down the option that TAFE is a first choice pathway for so many, everybody’s parent talks about university and we’ve paid a price for that.”
He said existing institutes will be abolished and TAFE campuses united under one banner.
Mr Barilaro said Orange was among the contenders to receive the digital education headquarters.
“It’s going to take significant infrastructure that’s in place, the NBN has allowed a lot more regional communities, there’s going to be a strong business case whatever the decision is.”
“Connectivity, easy access to transport and universities, this isn’t all about TAFE but tapping into research. It puts Orange into a good position, but there are other city centres that can make the same argument.”
