Teachers and education advocates are warning of shonky operators within the private training college sector, saying the Federal Government needs to do more to get rid of spruikers manipulating and misleading students. The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), which regulates Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), says it has received almost 4,000 complaints and conducted 3,000 audits since it was established in 2011. There are more than 4,500 private training colleges in Australia and the number has been growing since the Federal Government extended student loans to the vocational sector. But not everyone thinks the regulator is doing a good job, with teachers, advocates and other colleges telling the ABC calls to ASQA over quality have been falling on deaf ears. ASQA chief commissioner Chris Robinson said some of their investigations could be lengthy but felt they had sufficient resources. The Government has allocated an extra $68 million to the authority and vowed to clean up the training industry, but many in the sector say it could do more to improve processes. In particular, private colleges are audited when they open but only every five years after that or in response to a complaint. The method used to assess if applicants are fit and proper to run a college - and not formerly discredited owners - is a tick-a-box form that is not routinely checked. There is also criticism that while ASQA regulates colleges it is the Federal Education Department that administers the VET-FEE-HELP student loans spurring growth in the industry. Read more: abc.net.au/news/2014-10-19/training-college-watchdog-urged-to-stamp-out-spruikers/5823072
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 07:44:25 +0000
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