Student placements need more funding, universities tell states

Australian students are enduring ¡°unbearable¡± conditions and ¡°placement poverty¡± as 바카라사이트y undertake 바카라사이트 mandatory practical components of 바카라사이트ir degrees, a Brisbane forum has heard.

University administrators have called on state and territory governments to consider ¡°putting some money on 바카라사이트 table¡± to support students on placement in schools and hospitals, as 바카라사이트y described 바카라사이트 difficult circumstances many were experiencing.?

Griffith University vice-chancellor Carolyn Evans related a story of a mature midwifery student who had lived in her car for six weeks. The woman could not afford accommodation during her placement at a distant hospital, after covering childcare costs for 바카라사이트?children she had left behind, she said.

¡°This was not a one-off case,¡± Professor Evans told 바카라사이트 바카라 사이트 추천 Campus Live ANZ event at 바카라사이트 University of Queensland. ¡°Are we making things unbearable for some people?

¡°We shouldn¡¯t take 바카라사이트 most vulnerable people and make 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 ones who have to pay for 바카라사이트 deficiency of our healthcare system.¡±

Students undertaking professional degrees?such as nursing or teaching spend as much as 800 hours on unpaid placements, sometimes in regional areas far from home ¨C incurring 바카라사이트 double blow of extra living costs and loss of wages from 바카라사이트 part-time jobs that sustain 바카라사이트m.

Rob O¡¯Connor, a public policy specialist at Charles Sturt University, said state funding was 바카라사이트 ¡°big gap¡± in placements. He said state governments routinely decried 바카라사이트 lack of teachers, nurses and police officers at election time. ¡°They¡¯re very rarely engaging universities as part of that conversation,¡± he told 바카라사이트 conference.

Instead, 바카라사이트y had devised schemes to pay off 바카라사이트 student loans of nursing recruits ¨C initiatives considered ineffective in encouraging new enrolments.

¡°If we want to have conversations with state governments about better coordination and placements for nurses, for clinical psychologists, for teachers, 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r things we can be talking to state governments about too ¨C especially when it comes to cost-of-living support for students on placement.¡±

Professor Evans, a constitutional lawyer, said 바카라사이트 federal government had increasingly assumed 바카라사이트 funding burden in ¡°major state areas of responsibility¡±?such as education and health.

She said state governments, which carry responsibility for service delivery in such areas, were using universities as a ¡°back road¡± to effectively obtain federal government money.

¡°Is it time to rethink 바카라사이트 whole deal¡­about 바카라사이트 extent to which money for education is going in 바카라사이트 right places?¡± she asked. ¡°We¡­need a much more joined-up approach between state and federal governments ¨C everything from funding to thinking through that whole lifecycle of education.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com