Opportunities to expand to international markets and the continuing saga of VET FEE-HELP scandals were two of the main themes arising from last month’s Hobart conference of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training (ACPET), the national peak body that represents the private for-profit vocational education and training (VET) providers.
Dr Don Perlgut, CCA CEO, attended the ACPET conference on behalf of CCA, and provides a detailed report in CCA’s “Comment” section. International education has “surged ahead of tourism to become NSW's highest service export industry by nearly $2 billion, and the number of overseas students at the state's universities has grown by more than 30,000 over two years”, according to the NSW Department of Industry - recently reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The “hottest” topic at the conference was the continuing public relations fall-out from “dodgy” private for-profit VET providers. In his keynote conference address, Minister for Education and Training, Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham noted that, of “the around 220 VET FEE-HELP providers that have chosen ACPET for their tuition insurance, 19 are currently subject to VET FEE-HELP audits for compliance or payment concerns.”
Don Perlgut observes that percentage – 8.6% – is a pretty high number, making it hard to argue that it is only a select few for-profit providers that are ripping off the system. Two conference speakers – Professor Peter Noonan (the Mitchell Institute) and Denise Boyd (Consumer Action Law Centre) both spoke about this issue, with Boyd proposing a VET industry Ombudsman. Professor Noonan noted how Australia needs to look to the recent (UK) Sainsbury Report (pp. 67-68) on youth skills development, which states:
“Ideally, all publicly-subsidised technical education – notably college-based courses and the off- the-job component of apprenticeships – should be delivered under not-for-profit arrangements. This means delivery in a dedicated not-for-profit educational institution, such as a college or university, in a bespoke training centre established by an employer to train its own employees (or those in its supply chain companies), or in a private or third sector training provider where any surplus is reinvested rather than taken as profit.”
Dr Perlgut’s full conference report can be viewed here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
