Greens bring crucial support for UC/CIT merger

If the Commonwealth provides funding to the ACT Govt for education, and the ACT Govt passes a proportion of that funding on to CIT to cover running costs, it seems to me that if there is a merger and the Commonwealth picks up the tab to cover the running costs of both UC and CIT the Commonwealth will reduce funding to the ACT Govt, by maybe the same amount as the increase to UC. No savings there. What would you do if you were the Fed Education minister?

If you want to be a plumber your boss might send you to CIT and after a time you will become a tradie and start earning. Maybe if you want a degree you’d consider UC and hopefully get a job in your field. Suppose lets say there is a merger. The apprentice will go to the new merged institution, study hard, and become a qualified tradie. The would be academic will take out a degree and get a job. So, what was the benefit of this merger? Oh, yes – more options. Yeah, right.

I gather one of the reasons a merger is being pushed is to make the new institution more competative when higher education operates under the changed rules that come into being in 2012. There is fear about being pushed out of the market unless the merger takes place. Have people forgotton that the ACT is a captive market. I can’t see the current institutions being at risk. Where are students going to go? Take a drive up to Sydney or just duck into your local Bruce campus. Competition might be a big issue in a major city, but unless a high speed rail link is set up within a few months I think ACT will carry on pretty much as it always has without the need for a merger.

MrMagoo said :

I’m sorry but the cynic in me see’s this as nothing more than the ACT Government hoping to offload it’s financial burden ie. Funding CIT.

I agree.

If it means that I’m funding fewer Arts students then I’m all for it.

I’m sorry but the cynic in me see’s this as nothing more than the ACT Government hoping to offload it’s financial burden ie. Funding CIT. Yes they are Tertiary Instittutions that already have a strong nexus but I can see nothing more in this than reducing financial impost on government by offloading core responsiblity for CIT to the Federal Govt.