Back to the future, then. We did that until the mid 70s (for officers) and early 90s for sailors. Best scholarship there was - full board and accomodation with an, admittedly small, wage from age 15. And the MOBIs and MUPPETS became senior sailors in double quick time, as well.
Is it surprising that the solution may have been a good idea we had implemented before.
And we were pumping several hundred fully qualified tradespeople into the Australia economy every year, who when the left the Service had a minimum of 6-10 years experience. Doing away with Nirimba (and its Army and Air Force equivalents) may well have been the worst Defence decision of all those made in that appalling decade. And one of the worst for the whole country.
Agreed.
The site is still there, but all the education facilities (NSW TAFE, Western Sydney University, a NSW DET high school and a catholic education office high school) are going to move out and turn it into housing.
But that's the problem, instead of one voice running the place, its carved up between four+ massive entities, with their own priorities and their own issues. TAFE NSW was gutted and kicked to the kerb for 10+ years, the two schools are competing systems, that despise them each other and most of their own staff, and the WSU left the site, put in a pathway college, and pays for most of the upkeep. They all want off.
There are a lot of rotten building and facilities on the site, the pool, which was a community pool for schools in the local area, has had holes drilled into it, but still fills with water and is a mosquito breeding ground spreading ross river. TAFE has some buildings that are condemned and abandoned, with smashed windows, railings falling off, covered in graffitti.. There are some new buildings, but is an uncoordinated mess, and funny enough none of the entities can share.
The Irony was that Richmond airbase staff were desperately wanting a technical or selective or STEM school nearby the airbase. A school that could run maths and physics at least. Particularly for the kids of service members in the Airforce. You know because those who maintain aircraft might want their children to do at least as well as they did.
But then they killed that plan. Which was a whole bunch of money to rename Richmond High, Hurlstone High.
Controversial plans to relocate Hurlstone Agricultural High School to Richmond have been abandoned by the NSW government as part of a new push to promote agricultural education.
www.smh.com.au
It would be nice if education providers focused on education rather than property development.
If the ADF training pipeline is a national priority, then its a national priority. Run, controlled coordinated and prioritised, nationally. Heck, contract out the work to state government or other entities if you must, but run the shop.
And you must actually run it.
Two hundred and twenty current and former personnel join class action claiming negligence and breach of contract
www.theguardian.com
If you think TAFE is prioritising maritime qualifications or aircraft maintenance, you are kidding yourself. TAFE is run like a business, so only courses that make money get attention. Which is why STEM is dying generally, internationally. Manufacturing, sovereign commercial shipping, etc are not big employers any more. If the ADF wants this, ADF have to make this.
Maybe in doing this you fix other social problems too..
Another contributing factor that no one is talking about is decades of neoliberalism that has focussed on hyper individualism, where it's all about what I can get and nothing about service to community and society. Volunteerism at record lows, the struggle to get people to comply with health orders during the pandemic etc. The hard part is making military service relatable and attractive to the current young generation.
