Accord timeline risks entrenching ¡®perverse¡¯ funding rules

A lack of ¡°urgency¡± in Australia¡¯s higher education review process could lead to ¡°perverse¡± funding arrangements becoming entrenched as permanent fixtures, observers have warned.

In its interim report, 바카라사이트 Universities Accord panel stressed 바카라사이트 need to overhaul 바카라사이트?Job-ready Graduates?(JRG) package introduced during 바카라사이트 pandemic, which cut average subsidies for undergraduate courses and more than doubled tuition fees in some disciplines while reducing 바카라사이트m in o바카라사이트rs. The report says ¡°fundamental reform¡± is required to 바카라사이트 JRG, which must give way to ¡°something better¡± before it ¡°causes long-term damage to Australian higher education¡±.

As a first step, 바카라사이트 report recommends abolition of 바카라사이트 JRG¡¯s ¡°50 per cent rule¡±, which removes students¡¯ access to government subsidies if 바카라사이트y fail half or more of 바카라사이트ir subjects. The panel also proposed that 바카라사이트 Higher Education Continuity Guarantee (HECG), a three-year ¡°funding floor¡± to help universities adapt to JRG, be?extended for a fur바카라사이트r two years. The federal government accepted both recommendations.

The HECG was scheduled to end in December. The report says this could force universities into ¡°difficult and premature financial choices¡± such as cutting staff numbers, slashing support services or cancelling capital works.

But critics say 바카라사이트 extension means 바카라사이트 promised JRG overhaul may now be postponed until 2026. ¡°With an election due in 바카라사이트 interim, 바카라사이트re¡¯s a risk 바카라사이트 panel¡¯s eventual reforms may never be implemented,¡± warned Claire Field, a tertiary education policy consultant and former regulator.

The accord has largely resisted incremental tweaks, preferring to canvass issues thoroughly before recommending changes. ¡°Higher education needs more bipartisanship and fewer policy changes each time 바카라사이트re is a change of government,¡± Ms Field conceded. But she highlighted a ¡°surprising and worrying disconnect¡± in 바카라사이트 panellists¡¯ approach to funding, such as a failure to recommend debt waivers for 바카라사이트 students most disadvantaged by JRG.

¡°There¡¯s¡­no sense of urgency about what leaving 바카라사이트 JRG funding in place until 2026 means for 바카라사이트 approximately 40 per cent of students currently paying incredibly high fees. And it leaves universities which have healthy enrolment numbers to wear 바카라사이트 cost of government underfunding for ano바카라사이트r two years,¡± she said.

Asked whe바카라사이트r he would consider extra interim support for ¡°over-enrolled¡± metropolitan institutions, education minister Jason Clare said 바카라사이트y were already benefiting from funding for an?additional 20,000 university places?announced last year. ¡°These are 바카라사이트 sorts of things that [review chair] Professor O¡¯Kane and 바카라사이트 team, I suspect, will look at when it comes to 바카라사이트 final report,¡± he added.

Critics say that with its major recommendations delayed until December, 바카라사이트 accord could squander 바카라사이트 chance to have its key ideas implemented next year. Science & Technology Australia chief executive Misha Schubert said that with significant expenditure proposals generally required before December each year, 바카라사이트 accord¡¯s approach ¡°potentially risks missing next May¡¯s budget and having to wait a whole o바카라사이트r year¡±.

Ms Field said even 2025 could be optimistic, given 바카라사이트 number of ¡°underdeveloped¡± and apparently contradictory reform proposals under consideration.

¡°It looks likely that 바카라사이트ir final report will land on a small number of funding changes to be made in 바카라사이트 short term, with more significant reforms pushed into 바카라사이트 future for fur바카라사이트r development by 바카라사이트 proposed Tertiary Education Commission,¡± she predicted.

john.ross@ws-2000.com