MINISTER for Education and Training, Dr Chris Bourke yesterday announced that any plans for the amalgamation of Canberra Institute of Technology and the University of Canberra has been placed on hold.

In a report to the Legislative Assembly, Dr Bourke said collaborative arrangements were pending the finalisation and implementation of a range of Vocational Education and Training sector reforms at institutional, ACT and national levels.

“The government is committed to reforming the ACT VET sector through initiatives to improve quality, transparency, access and efficiency. This is consistent with the national directions as expressed in COAG’s National Partnership Agreement on Skills Reform,” Dr Bourke said.

“The ACT is currently negotiating details of an Implementation Plan for the National Partnership. The development and implementation of income contingent loans as well as a national training entitlement, all within a more open market, are just some of the reforms that need to be carefully considered.

“Any future collaborative activity that involves CIT will have to take the targets and objectives of the National Partnership into account, given that it is worth some $28 million to the Territory.”

Greens Leader and education spokesperson Meredith Hunter said the Greens were left asking why the UCIT model was announced, despite the lack of any detail about the proposal.

“The model was also never included in the Bradley report. There was little to no explanation of the rationale by the Government,” Ms Hunter said.

“I was willing to examine any genuine model that the Government could present that would enhance our local tertiary education sector as long as it was based on clear tests of scrutiny, viability and governance.

“Unfortunately it took a motion raised by the ACT Greens to force the Government to finally tell the people of the ACT what their plans actually were.

“Today’s announcement that a merger or a new institution will not be going ahead will provide staff and students with some much needed certainty, however, there are still many new questions and issues to be addressed.

“How will the ACT will compete, and thrive in the new tertiary education environment, where competition between institutions will continue to increase?

“The recent COAG meeting that saw the announcement of new VET funding and HECS style Income contingent loans will dominate the discussions and be the main focus over the next few months.

“Will the ACT be ready to take advantage of the new VET funding scheme and HECS style arrangements?

“I urge the Government to undertake better consultation with all stakeholders in the future. I am left wondering why the Government let the anxiety and unease go for so long, and why it required a motion from the Greens for the plans to be made public.”