Australian Education Union (AEU) Conference Learnings.

A couple of weeks ago Amy attended the annual Australian Education Union (AEU) conference in Melbourne. The AEU covers the education sector across Australia from primary and secondary schools through to the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions.

TAFE’s overlap with our polytechnics here, so it was extremely interesting to hear about the experiences Australians are having and the lessons we can learn.

The reports from the TAFE sector were sobering. The sector won a significant victory with the Albanese Government implementing a ‘fees free’ policy for TAFE education.

This has turned around the sector, from falling rolls and possible closures, to bringing in a huge volume of new students. The expectation is that the TAFE’s will plug skill shortages and provide opportunities for many with no post high school qualifications.

While this all sounds like great news, the funding framework for the fees free policy hadn’t been well thought through. They had failed to assess what the impact of the additional students would be in terms of increased workload for teachers and, in particular, the complexity of needs the students would come in with. There was no investment into pastoral care, literacy support, or extra teachers and support staff. This has resulted in extreme pressure on all staff in TAFEs, and there are now increased rates of burnout.

This is a real example that any policy advocacy for fees free education must be deeply grounded in both ensuring the role of all those who make education possible and the essential need for investment in the learning infrastructure. Classroom sizes, time to support student’s learning needs, and the critical role of support staff and pastoral care staff are all inextricably linked to student success and teacher wellbeing.

This election year we have an opportunity to ensure these things are connected and well understood by all decision makers – we mustn’t waste any opportunity to advocate for our polytechnics.