AEU Victorian deputy vice-president secondary sector, Justin Mullaly, visited Bendigo Senior Secondary College yesterday to discuss with teachers the changes to TAFE fees.

Mr Mullaly said the changes would cause fees to triple for many Government-supported places, and the low-income concession rate would be abolished.

“Students from low socio-economic backgrounds are going to find it much harder to attend TAFE under these changes,” he said.

According to If On Track nf data - a Victorian Government initiative - 50 per cent of students who complete year 12 at BSSC go on to vocational education and training. Two-thirds of those students choose to study a Certificate IV or higher at TAFE, courses that would attract significantly higher fees.

“Rather than providing the funding that TAFE needs, the Government is shifting the cost of TAFE education to those who can least afford it,” Mr Mullaly said.

“The Government is driving many students away from post-secondary education.”

Under the changes, Mr Mullaly said a Government-supported Diploma of Disability Work would rise from $877 to $2500 by 2012.

Those on concession would also have fee increases from $55 to $2500. And those who already held a degree or diploma would be forced to pay the full cost of further training, which could be more than $10,000.

However, Victorian Skills and Workforce Participation Minister Jacinta Allan said the AEU was misleading students about the changes.

When the changes were announced last month, Ms Allan said they would in fact provide young people with more jobs and more training opportunities.

“Almost 865,000 students, or 60 per cent, will pay lower fees,” she said.

“We are creating an additional 172,000 training places over the next four years, and (are) generating jobs for an extra 900 teachers and 500 non-teaching staff.”