AUSTRALIA: Cuts to higher education for flood relief

Plans by the federal government to cut spending on higher education and allocate nearly A$6 billion (US$6 billion) to rebuild vast areas of Queensland and Victoria affected by the recent floods have been condemned by lobby groups.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard (pictured) announced that the government would abolish the Australian Learning and Teaching Council and the Capital Development Programme. This would create savings of nearly $400 million in the forward estimates - a minute proportion of the proposed outlay on infrastructure rebuilding.

The National Tertiary Education Union said the decision was short-sighted economic and political management. It called on Gillard to reconsider asking universities to make a disproportionately high contribution to the rebuilding effort and consider funding by extending the budget deficit "for another year or two".

Union president Jeannie Rea said the NTEU fully understood the urgency of rebuilding flood-affected areas and supported Gillard's proposal to also apply a levy on the earnings of Australian workers. But the union questioned the wisdom of cuts to investment in other important nation-building areas.

Rea said some 13% of the proposed cuts would come from spending on universities, with climate change programmes suffering even greater cuts.

"The abolition of the ALTC, which supports the continuous improvement of quality in university teaching through research, award and grant programmes, is at odds with the government's often stated commitment to improving teaching standards and student outcomes," Rea said.

"While the environment is the biggest loser, our universities will find it more difficult to meet the government's ambitious higher education participation targets. This decision raises serious questions about the Gillard government's rhetoric on the critical importance of education to Australia's economic and social future, particularly in regional Australia."

The learning and teaching council provides awards, fellowships and grants for outstanding teaching and funds for innovation. It offers outstanding scholars leadership activities through a fellowship scheme and coordinates the annual Prime Minister's Award for the University Teacher of the Year.

Council CEO Dr Carol Nicoll said the government's decision would leave "a gaping hole in the sector". She said the council represented the government's commitment to enhancing the quality of learning and teaching in higher education "through means other than regulation".

"Obviously we are deeply disappointed that the government's stated commitment to improving the student learning experience for Australian students is not matched by continuing funding," Nicoll said.

The Innovative Research Universities group said it was also disappointed the cuts would impact on the government's higher education agenda and would hamper universities' capacity to achieve increased participation.

Chair of the IRU, Professor Ian O'Connor of Griffith University in Queensland, said abolition of the learning and teaching council was deeply concerning.

"The ALTC has been a significant player promoting and recognising quality teaching and learning," O'Connor said. "It has attained significant traction in the sector and has led to a focus on improving students' learning, and fostered the sharing of best practice and experience in teaching."

The issue was whether the impact of the cuts would harm the longer term productivity of universities and the quality of their graduates, he said. High quality teaching and learning was essential to the government's demand-driven funding arrangements that would apply from next year.

Gillard has come under fire from many groups, including the Opposition, over her plan to introduce an additional tax on workers to meet some of the multi-billion dollar costs of repairing infrastructure seriously damaged or destroyed by the floods. As head of a minority government, it is not certain she will get approval from parliament to apply the levy, but she can still apply the cuts to higher education and environmental programmes.

geoff.maslen@uw-news.com