TAFE SA Boost

WELCOME BOOST: Labor candidates Isabel and Clare Scriven welcome the Labor Government’s $100m pre-election funding pledge for TAFE SA.

TAFE SA will receive $100m to increase funding for skills and training under a cash splash promised by Labor.

In a joint statement, Premier Jay Weatherill and Higher Education and Skills Minister Susan Close announced the multi-million dollar funding boost estimated to create at least 18,000 accredited training places.

Ms Close said TAFE SA would receive at least 70pc of total vocational education and training funding under a re-elected Labor Government.

Labor candidates for Mount Gambier Isabel Scriven and her mother Clare Scriven, standing for the Legislative Council, welcomed the funding boost, $90m of which will be invested towards accredited training places to support apprentices, trainees and job-related training in key growth industries such as defence, information technology and health.

The lower house candidate said the boost would be particularly good news for young people looking for apprenticeships and traineeships.

The government-owned training provider was embroiled in controversy last year following an Australian Skills Quality Authority report which found problems with all 16 of the randomly audited courses.

Enrolments were suspended in 14 of the courses after being found “substandard”, with around 800 students facing potential reassessment.