in focus 17 may 2010
National Monday Update Issue:
ACPET holds talks with Trade Minister
This week ACPET met with Minister for Trade, Simon Crean to discuss the transition of responsibilities from AEI to Austrade and to explore ways in which the two bodies can work together to recover the ground that has been lost to our global competitors in the international education arena.
Discussion centred first on the issue of quality and the measures taken over the past year to address the failure of regulatory oversight that allowed a small section of the market with little interest in quality education to flourish. ACPET re-stated our commitment to quality education and sustainable business models and outlined the strong action taken in expelling members not meeting our requirements and the introduction of risk assessments and financial guarantees where warranted.
ACPET provided evidence drawn from student surveys that demonstrates that the vast majority of our members are committed to the welfare and education of their students and the high levels of satisfaction reported by these students.
The serious impact of the lack of coherent or clear immigration policy was raised with the Minister and the need for urgent action to provide a clear and coordinated policy environment was highlighted by our National Chair, Kay Ganley.
Federal Budget 2010-2011
ACPET meet with MPs and Senators to discuss the 2010-2011 Budget and announcements relating to education and training. ACPET welcomed investment in training to meet skills shortages in Australia’s economy. Moves to encourage state and territory governments to introduce an entitlement model and extend access to VET FEE-HELP to students studying at diploma level and above are in line with ACPET’s budget submission as is the commitment of substantial funds to properly establish a national regulator.
Somewhat perplexing is the Quality Skills Incentive, designed to raise the quality of teaching and lift student achievement that will target Australia’s 100 largest RTOs. Apart from wondering why only large RTOs have a contribution to make to quality training, ongoing claims that our public sector colleagues have a monopoly on quality would seem to render the need for their participation in this program redundant – unless all is not as we are told. An alternative view would be that this policy recognizes the high quality of training being delivered the thousands of small to medium RTOs who make such a critical contribution to our economy.
The establishment of My Skills online database for the purpose of bringing greater transparency to the system is another initiative that requires close scrutiny and will be a central to our ongoing discussions with government.
ACPET will keep members updated about the opportunities arising from the budget announcements in future issues of NMU.
In the media this week…
ACPET and our colleagues continue to raise the plight of the international education industry in the public domain and this week the issue was covered by the ABC World Today program and Campus Review’s article Death by a Thousand Cuts
Quality Through Diversity is the theme for this year’s ACPET National Conference in Melbourne. The conference will showcase the best of Australia’s private education and training. The program will focus on informing and supporting members as you lead, manage and grow your business. I encourage you to visit www.acpetconference.info and register early to assure your place.
Please do not hesitate to contact me (Andrew [dot] Smith [at] acpet [dot] edu [dot] au (click to email )Andrew [dot] Smith [at] acpet [dot] edu [dot] au (Andrew Smith)) to discuss any of the above or to provide your ideas and input into the ongoing development of the Council.