There was a debate in the Reps the other day about construction skill shortages. It was standard stuff, part of the Opposition’s pushing back on the Government’s sell of “fee-free TAFE.”
“When we talk about skills it needs to be about more than just ‘TAFE’,” says Deputy Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley.
But Terry Young, member for the Queensland seat of Longman brought universities into it.
“I have got no problem with university education; we need it. We need doctors, physiotherapists, teachers, nurses and the like but not at the expense of plumbers, hairdressers, chippies, and retail and hospitality workers,” he said.
There was more.
“I cannot count the number of parents and young people who have felt pressured or guilted into taking on a university degree, even though university wasn’t something they had a great interest in. I spoke to a young man recently who had done two years, reluctantly, at university after feeling pressured by well-meaning staff at school and his parents to enter university … Frustrated, he finally left and for the past 12 months he’s started a small business doing bond cleaning for real estate. He is now earning a good income, and, more importantly, he is as happy as a pig in mud.”
Mr Young is deputy chair of the House Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training, and appears to be spruiking a message very different to the Accord, which emphasises that post-school qualifications are essential for 4 out of every 5 Australian workers by 2050.
The Coalition’s message about training will appeal to many who do not currently see value in universities.
Certainly Education Minister Jason Clare mentions training when he talks about the economy needing people with post-school qualifications, but he emphasises expanding access to university for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
It’s an opportunity for the Opposition to argue the Government wants to push young men into universities where they don’t want to be – already Australian men account for a bare 40 per cent of local enrolments, when there are shortages across trades.
It is also a chance for conservatives to culture-war higher education without event starting to head back to familiar ground lamenting what is taught in arts faculties. Notice the vocation-based university degrees Mr Young approves of?
Add this to the Opposition saying (without detailing) they will go harder than Labor on international student numbers to reduce migration; and higher education is starting to look like an ideological issue for the imminent election.
