On almost all tracked measures of vulnerability and disadvantage, NSW community education vocational education and training (VET) providers over-perform, compared to both TAFE and private for-profit providers.
The latest research from Community Colleges Australia (CCA) analyses the 2017 government-funded VET data, and concludes that NSW not-for-profit community providers disproportionately cater for students from the state’s most disadvantaged groups and regions.
“This achievement is consistent with CCA’s analysis of the 2016 data. It shows that, in percentage terms, the state’s not-for-profit community education providers deliver VET programs funded by governments to significantly more Indigenous students, students living in regional and rural New South Wales, students with a disability, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, older learners – aged 45-plus and females,” said Dr Don Perlgut, CCA’s CEO.
In 2017, NSW community education providers achieved the following percentage proportions of their government-funded VET student populations:
13.4% Indigenous students (12% in 2016), compared to 9.6% of TAFE and 7.0% of private for-profit VET providers;
19.7% students with a disability (15.5% in 2016), compared to 12.1% of TAFE and 8.9% of private for-profits;
63.8% regional students (70.9% in 2016), compared to 36.6% of TAFE and 32.6% of private for-profits;
65.6% most disadvantaged students (bottom two SEIFA quintiles; 69.1% in 2016), compared to 55.2% of TAFE and 56.2% of private for-profits; and
35.8% older (age 45+) students (34.8% in 2016), compared to 19% of TAFE and 14.7% of private for-profits.
Download the full report here.
