Divestment of TAFE assets to recycle funds into better teaching resources is part of the plan to give TAFE NSW the largest overhaul it has experienced in half a century.
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NSW Minster for Skills John Barliaro expressed optimism for the future of TAFE NSW with last week’s announcement of a reform of the public institute.
He said it was a change to fund and retain quality teaching, and a restructure of management to give more control within campuses.
Mr Barliaro said TAFE NSW had conducted a thorough inventory of assets, with an outcome reflecting 25 per cent of unutilised institute assets.
Tthat is money taking away from resources from teaching resources.
- NSW Minister for Skills John Barilaro
“TAFE has about 2000 pieces of assets, from blocks of land to unused buildings and a range of other assets that aren’t even fit for purpose training,” he said, and indicated the assets were a burden to the system.
“There are impacts of this. We are holding these assets, and they take money to maintain,and therefore that is money taking away from resources from teaching resources, and from placement of students in TAFE.
“Second impact, if we want to accelerate the investment we have, fantastic new teaching and learning environments, new facilities, underpinned by great technology, the only way we can do that internally by recycling and the sale of some of these assets.”
He said every dollar divested will be re-invested into TAFE.
Further to streamlining the institute, Mr Barilaro said a new TAFE NSW board has also been put in place to streamline institute operation, reduce the top-heavy past to a resource-rich future to allow people to do they jobs for which they were hired.
He said within the 10 state TAFE institutes, operational costs have grown exponentially since 1998, from 18 cents on the dollar to 40-60 cents. He said TAFE had acknowledged the costs.
“I think we’ve got a problem,” Mr Barilaro said.
“No organisation can run with those overheads.”