What are some of the issues confronting TAFE NSW?

• Government priorities of competition and free enterprise are over emphasised. This may be appropriate for business and industry, but not in the world of education and training. 
• Funding for TAFE is largely based on a contestable model, as it competes with for-profit training providers that may not even be registered in NSW. The responsibility for paying the full costs of education is being shifted to students, who are having to take on very high debts to pay for their courses. 
• TAFE’s role and responsibilities to build social as well as economic capital are being undermined, and continuing and further education courses are being chopped. Courses for students most in need are not being funded, and support services including counselling, disabilities and multicultural support have been cut back. 
• The quality of vocational education and training has been compromised and undermined due to pressures to make courses cheap, to compete with training providers that may not meet the same quality standards as TAFE, and to push through student completions to meet government demands