Governments around the country will have to hope that FEE FREE TAFE is going gangbusters to solve skills shortages, because conventional training enrolments aren’t.
Students enrolled in nationally recognised training across the country fell by nearly 3% last year, to 1.15m. The estimable National Centre for Vocational Education Research reports numbers in the giant public TAFE systems were flat while numbers in private providers, which enrol a third of students, were marginally lower.
The biggest drop was in NSW, down by nearly 10% to 406,000, while Queensland grew 2.6% to 258,000. Victoria was stable, with 296,000 students.
The standout growth across the system was a 10% lift in full-time enrolments, to nearly 230,000 students.
There were big declines for tourism/hospitality, down 20% to 48,000 and business services 11% lower at 102,000.
But there was no growth for the in-demand trades skills that keep being identified as needed to grow the economy. Building trades barely moved.
The biggest course group was for care industry occupations, classed as “community services” with 264,000 students, 3% up on 2023.
As for the notion that training launches degree study – Certificate IV enrolments were down 6% to 247,000 and diplomas were down 4% to 143,000. Certificate III remained by far the most popular study level, stable at 600,000, accounting for 45% of total completions last year.
