The key high school vocational training program in Victoria has had its funding slashed. 

by Jane Ryan

AUDIO

TRANSCRIPT

RYAN

VCAL or the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning is the vocational equivalent of VCE in Victoria. Recently, VCAL providers had some bad news.

[Davey] SO WE FOUND OUT BY AN EMAIL ON THE FRIDAY NIGHT, I JUST DIDN’T WHAT TO MAKE OF IT, EXCEPT THAT IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.

RYAN

Jane Davey is a VCAL Coordinator at the PRACE adult education center in Reservoir. That’s how she found out  a 12 million dollar funding cut has been made to the program - which means she’s out of a job come new years eve. Lets get clear on what it is a community run VCAL center actually does.

[Davey] SO THIS PROGRAM HERE AT PRACE, HAS RUNNING SINCE ABOUT 2004 AND WE TAKE A WIDE RANGE OF YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THE AREA THAT HAVE DISENGAGED FROM MAINSTREAM EDUCATION. AND THERE CAN BE A MILLION REASONS WHY THEY’VE DISENGAGED FROM MAINSTREAM EDUCATION.

RYAN

20 000 Victorian kids are enrolled in VCAL right now. Some are in schools, some are at adult education centers. But they all have a relationship with a coordinator who facilitates work placements and keeps them on track. Jane Davey set me straight on what a coordinators role is.

[Davey] WHEN YOUNG PEOPLE WHETHER THEY’RE FROM JUSTICE OR DHS OR WHETHER ITS FROM MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, IT CAN BE A REALLY DISJOINTED SUPPORT SYSTEM THAT’S AROUND THAT YOUNG PERSON.SO THEY MAY HAVE A HOUSING WORKER, AND THEY MAY HAVE A DRUG AND ALCOHOL WORKER AND THEY MAY HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH WORKER. WHAT WE DO HERE IS WE COORDINATE THAT SO THAT EVERYONE IS ON THE SAME PAGE. THEY’RE NOT HAVING TO TELL THEIR STORY TO 17 DIFFERENT PEOPLE.

RYAN

Shadow minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Steve Herbert was a member of the 2003 Labor Government that introduced VCAL. He says the coordinator role is essential to the program.

[Herbert] WE BROUGHT IN THE FUNDING IN RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT TO DO THIS COURSE REQUIRES MORE THAN JUST STANDING IN FRONT OF THE CLASSROOM TEACHING. IT REQUIRES COORDINATION WITH WORK, WITH EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES, A WHOLE RANGE OF PEOPLE, BECAUSE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO DO VCAL AREN’T JUST SITTING IN A CLASSROOM. THEY GO OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY. IT REQUIRES A LOT MORE COORDINATION WORK THAN WOULD ORDINARILY BE NECESSARY FOR A STANDARD VCE.

RYAN

And so far the outcomes have been pretty good. Jane Daveys has had some remarkable results.

[Davey] IN THE LAST THREE YEARS WE HAVE HAD NO REOFFENDERS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH THE YOUTH JUSTICE SYSTEM. SO 100 PER CENT OF THOSE KIDS HAVE GONE ON TO FURTHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING, OR A TRAINEESHIP, OR AN APPRENTICESHIP OR FULL TIME WORK.

RYAN

The funding cuts to the coordinator role mean that people like Jane will not be funded to continue working past the end of this year, which means a serious shake up of the program and the way kids are taught.

[Davey] TO CONTINUE THE PROGRAM IT WILL HAVE TO BE WATERED DOWN, SO ALL OF THOSE SUPPORT SYSTEMS THAT I PUT IN PLACE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HAPPEN BECAUSE I’LL HAVE TO BE IN THE CLASSROOM TEACHING. IT MEANS THAT IF A YOUNG PERSON ISN’T HAVING A GOOD DAY THERE’S NO WHERE TO SEND THEM. THE ALTERNATIVE IS TO SEND THEM HOME, WHEREVER THAT IS.

RYAN

The government says the coordinator role was always meant to be temporary, but providers argue that it’s essential to the program and to many young people’s lives.

[Davey] IN THE LETTER THAT WE GOT THE INITIAL FUNDING WAS TO SET UP CO ORDINATION OF THE WORK PLACEMENTS AND NOW NINE YEARS DOWN THE TRACK THOSE THINGS SHOULD BE IN PLACE. HOWEVER WE DO THIS KID BY KID, YEAR BY YEAR. SO ITS A REVOLVING PROCESS AND ITS STILL JUST A CONSUMING AS IT WAS IN YEAR ONE.

RYAN

Mr Herbert is calling on the government not to cut this role from the VCAL Program. He says the cuts will fundamentally undermine the program.

RYAN

[Is it likely then that community providers will have a really hard time actually functioning at all with these funding cuts?]

[Herbert] I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT THAT THAT IS THE CASE, AND THOSE THAT I’VE SPOKEN TO, ALL SAY THE SAME THING.

RYAN

[Obviously when a resource like this crumbles, and it is servicing a lot of students in Victoria, that creates pressure on other resources. Are there any other policies, or proposed policies to account for the kids that aren’t going to be catered for once this money is taken away?]

[Herbert] I THINK THEY’LL BE LOST IN THE SYSTEM.

RYAN

The Minister for Education Martin Dixon declined to be interviewed, but The Age has reported that he has promised limited financial assistance for transitional arrangements.

Jane Ryan is a graduate of RMIT's undergraduate journalism degree and co-winner of the 2011 Melbourne Press Club Siemens Award for Student Journalism.