Teachers in the Engineering Trades at Muswellbrook TAFE, and the Equine Services course at Scone TAFE, are being asked to re-apply for their jobs under the State Government’s new Smart and Skilled reforms.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Currently, there are two teachers at the Muswellbrook Campus of Hunter TAFE teaching Fitting and Machining and two teachers delivering the Metal Fabrication and Welding course.
It’s anticipated this number will be cut by half.
At the Scone Campus of Hunter TAFE three teachers are currently delivering the Equine Services course, with one of the three expected to lose their job.
The Australian Education Union’s representative in Muswellbrook, Michael Dyer, said these teachers must re-apply for their position prior to Christmas.
“A determination will be made by the Faculty Director of Industry and Natural Resources at Hunter TAFE’s Newcastle Campus while these teachers are on holidays,” Mr Dyer said.
The affected Muswellbrook and Scone TAFE teachers will know if they've retained their position before the 2015 teaching year starts, in the first week of February.
“So, for TAFE teachers in Muswellbrook, if they’re unsuccessful with their pooled assessment for gaining the positions available in Muswellbrook then they may have to apply for positions in Newcastle or Gosford,” Michael Dyer said.
For the moment, the Electrical and Automotive Trade teachers have not been asked to re-apply for their positions, but Michael Dyer, himself an Electrical Trade teacher, said he's been asked to reduce face-to-face teaching hours.
“The current 864 hours of face-to-face teaching will be cut back to 744 hours from next year in the Electrical Trade course under the Smart and Skilled program,” Mr Dyer said.
Mr Dyer said the 864-hour course delivery time for an Electrical Trade had not changed in over 30 years and the new reforms will result in a 17 per cent reduction in the number of face-to-face hours available for teachers to deliver the Electrical Trade course in Muswellbrook.
The Metal Fabrication and Welding and Fitting and Machining trades had their face-to-face teaching hours cut 18 months ago, from eight hours a day to seven hours a day.
Combined enrolments this year in the Engineering Trade courses and the Electrical Trade course at Muswellbrook TAFE reached nearly 200, and those numbers are expected to be similar in 2015.
In mid-October, representatives from Hunter TAFE attended a Muswellbrook Chamber of Commerce and Industry breakfast, telling local employers the changes under Smart and Skilled would strengthen, not weaken, Hunter TAFE’s interaction and engagement with industry and provide more targeted delivery of apprenticeship and trade training.
At the MCCI breakfast on October 14, Hunter TAFE Institute Director, Phil Cox, told employers his Institute could not "sit still."
“We can’t be the same public service provider we were 20 years ago and lots of our employers who send apprentices to us don’t like that," Mr Cox said.
“We’ve got to think about moving forward and [bring] employers with us on that, but we’re taking advice from industry on what we do."