Teacher warns TAFE offering still falls short

A local teacher is one of many campaigning for a stronger TAFE presence in Bass Coast, saying the return of some local course delivery is welcome, but still falls enormously short of what the region needs.

Bass Coast College teacher Malcolm Beasley, who launched the ‘Bass Coast Shire needs a TAFE NOW’ petition almost two years ago, said Chisholm’s current offering at its Wonthaggi campus shows the demand for local training, but still doesn’t exhibit the face-to-face TAFE presence that the community needs.

Chisholm currently offers just five courses through its Bass Coast campus: Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care VET Delivered Directly to Schools, Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping, Certificate IV in School-based Education Support, and Certificate III in Individual Support: Ageing and Disability.

It’s worth noting that a Certificate III in pathology collection is also being added, and is taking enrolments for a semester two start on July 26.

Chisholm told the Sentinel-Times that programs are delivered through a flexible model, depending on the course and cohort, with a mix of face-to-face and blended learning.

The institute said that approach allows students from a wide geographical area to complete selected theory work online, while also taking part in hands-on learning for some of the more practical components.

“Chisholm is working alongside the Bass Coast community, offering education that meets their interests and training to address shortages in the region,” a Chisholm spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the Bass Coast campus had recorded year-on-year growth in enrolments and had experienced strong completions in Certificate III in Individual Support since it was first offered in July 2025.

But Mr Beasley said what’s currently on offer should certainly not be mistaken for a fully restored local TAFE service.

“Any return to delivery is welcome, and I acknowledge that,” he said.

“But let’s be honest about what’s on offer. When you look at the actual delivery modes, several of these courses are Zoom classes that happen to list Bass Coast as their location.

“That’s not restoring a TAFE campus to a regional community. Progress would be a packed timetable of face-to-face courses across a range of industries.”

Mr Beasley acknowledged that blended learning has its place in the curriculum, but could not be treated as equal access for regional students.

“A student in Frankston or Dandenong who misses a face-to-face session can make it up the next day,” he said.

“A student in Wonthaggi who can’t access reliable internet, or who doesn’t have a quiet space at home, or who is a single parent, blended isn’t flexible for them, it’s a barrier.

“The whole point of a regional campus is that you show up, you’re in a room with a teacher and your peers, and you get the full experience.”

Concerns were raised back in 2024 about the lack of face-to-face TAFE training in Bass Coast and the underuse of the Wonthaggi campus.

Mr Beasley said many of the concerns locals had back then, including long travel distances, remain today.

He said Bass Coast College was delivering a wide range of VET Delivered to Secondary School programs, but students had no clear local Chisholm pathway in Wonthaggi once they left school.

Shockingly, he said that only one out of a bout 200 Bass Coast College Year 12 students went on to TAFE in the city in 2025.

Mr Beasley emphasised the “remarkable job” that Bass Coast College does by providing access to VETDSS programs, such as hospitality, cookery, health support, construction pathways and furniture making, but argued the lack of proper local public TAFE presence meant students were missing out when they finish school.

“The courses on offer are all in care, education and bookkeeping,” he said.

“Those are important, and I know people who have gained employment as a result and that is great news, but Bass Coast is a growing coastal municipality with a construction sector, a tourism economy, a farming hinterland, and small businesses that need trade-qualified workers.

“There are no building and construction courses. No hospitality. No automotive. No horticulture. No IT.”

He said an obvious starting point for future expansion would include building and construction trades, electrotechnology, plumbing, automotive, hospitality and cookery, horticulture and information technology.

“These are the courses that create genuine employment pathways for school leavers in a regional community,” he said.

“They also require hands-on facilities like workshops, commercial kitchens and labs, and that’s exactly why online delivery can never substitute.

“You cannot learn to be an electrician on Zoom.”

Mr Beasley said Bass Coast had been left “in limbo” for far too long, with students, school leavers, adults wanting to retrain and local employers all affected.

“It has been going on for far too long,” he said.

“Think of the wasted potential.”