Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to get another question from the shadow minister on TAFE and completions, and I really hope these questions continue. Every day students are enrolling in fee-free TAFE. What I want to emphasise is that good courses and advanced TAFE study take time. I also want to say this: as I'm sure the shadow minister knows, the professional data agency, the custodian, the NCVER, reports completions after four years. The VET data experts only report on the cohort that completes after four years, because it takes four years to get usable data. It takes four years, because the learning is complex and critical. It takes four years, because TAFE courses are just as important as university degrees. It takes four years, because four out of five students are enrolled part time. It takes four years, because someone who enrolled yesterday can't complete today. I would have thought that that's a pretty simple concept. The latest NCVER publication covers enrolments from 2019.

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