Education providers, including universities are the “ultimate public good institutions,” says Western Sydney U chancellor, Jennifer Westacott. But some are resourced better than others and there are several systemic failings.
“They will be the lynchpin of whether our society will grow its economy and prevent inequality in the age of AI and technology,” she said this week.
Tertiary education is not equipped to “prepare Australians for the huge disruptions that will occur in the labour market,” Professor Westacott said, pointing to four failings:
- It is not student and skills-centric
- TAFE and HE are not interoperable
- The business model cannot “rapidly upskill” the workforce
- It is just too slow
Western Sydney U is working on its own solutions, rather than “waiting for the government to fix these problems,” she said, but universities in particular faced multiple challenges, which needed to be overcome in order to address areas of failure.
Professor Westacott said these include:
- Low student load and “the increasing cost of degrees”
- Insecure research funding
- “Asymmetry in funding between the Group of Eight and everyone else”
- “Legitimate questions” about governance and VC pay
- And, most importantly, “a system of accreditation and delivery that simply is not fit for purpose.”