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A SENIOR TAFE union official has called on the community to join a campaign to pressure the state government to reinstate TAFE funding.
Australian Education Union TAFE vice-president Greg Barclay yesterday met Bendigo TAFE chief executive Maria Simpson to discuss staff redundancies.
Mr Barclay said regional communities across the state had joined the
“It has happened in Ballarat where a local community group formed last weekend to continue to fight the cuts to TAFEs,” he said.
“The same has happened in Gippsland and Geelong. It is not just local community members; we are now seeing businesses and employers come on board.”
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Ms Simpson last month announced her organisation would make 100 staff redundant and cut 39 courses by the end of the year.
She said the state government had wiped $9 million from Bendigo TAFE’s annual budget.
Mr Barclay said the cuts would have ramifications that would last for years.
“It is important to not just look at the numbers – these people have names and families,” he said.
“Some will have to shift away from the region to find work.”
The government says its restructure of TAFEs is crucial to keep the institutions viable, blaming the former Labor government for leaving a “mess” behind.
The government argues that it will increase TAFE funding by
$1 billion over the next four years.
But Mr Barclay said the government needed to reinstate the funding that had been cut.
“It is unacceptable that TAFEs should be punished and people lose their jobs because of private companies in Melbourne that the government failed to manage.”