The AEU has been informing students of the changes to TAFE changes that will see some course fees triple, concession rates for diplomas and advanced diplomas abolished, and those who already have a diploma or higher forced to pay about $10,000 depending on their course.

Ms Allan is right to say that only some course fees are going up - for now. What she fails to tell you is that the fee increases affect about half of all TAFE students enrolling from July 1 this year, and may well rise to about three-quarters from 2011 when apprenticeships and traineeships are reviewed.

When we tell students what is happening to their TAFEs, they respond with disbelief, demanding to know why the Government hasn’t told them about it.

Well, Ms Allan, why is the Government spending $16 million of taxpayers’ money on an advertising campaign that tells the people most affected nothing about these changes?

Students at TAFEs across Victoria have told us they simply would not enrol in their course if they had to pay three times as much, as they will in years to come. And they would not take on a loan to fund a course, as they are afraid of the debt.

These changes hit low-income earners hardest. In Bendigo, 60 per cent of TAFE students pay the concession rate of $55. For diploma and advanced diploma students, this rate has been abolished and students studying, for example, hair salon management will have to pay $2000 next year and $2500 from 2012.

If they already hold a degree or diploma, they’ll have to pay the full course cost, which is $9335.

TAFE was always a way for people on low incomes to get access to skills training. Now, students in Bendigo see themselves as being priced out of the market - and a better life.

MARY BLUETT,

Victorian branch president,

Australian Education Union