An article a while ago in Campus Review looked at the ‘Paid to Learn’ program run by TAFE NSW that was paying mid-career tradies to train as TAFE teachers.
It pays industry experts to complete their Certificate IV TAE over 14 weeks and has “has seen a 97 per cent retention rate in its first year of operating.” In part, this might be because “each program member gets tailored ‘wraparound’ support” as well as building a sense of camaraderie in those undertaking the program.
This program is needed because the TAFE workforce is being depleted through high workloads, relatively low wages, and a lack of permanence (as the article notes “only 48 per cent of Vocational Education and Training (VET) educators employed at TAFE NSW have permanent employment.”).
However, as the article notes:
“The program has produced 203 new TAFE teachers, and existing TAFE teachers reported a 14 per cent decrease in excess hours worked since its inception.
Newly qualified teachers are mainly from the electrotechnology, carpentry and building, plumbing and automotive, and mechanical trade industries, and have been spread across NSW, although many now teach in Western Sydney, an area that has been subject to above average construction and electrical job skills shortages.
Other represented industries include agriculture, horticulture and land management, education support, fitting and machining, community services and counselling, and aircraft maintenance.”
