A major report has found that access to higher education among disadvantaged Australians must be significantly increased and the financial burden of studying eased to address acute skills shortages in the country. The highly anticipated universities accord final report, being released by the education minister, Jason Clare, on Sunday, was expected to lay out the blueprint for the tertiary sector over the coming decades. The report contains 47 recommendations, including compensating students for hundreds of hours of mandatory placements and tweaking Help loans to reduce ballooning student debt. Under the proposed reforms, the indexation rate would be set to either the consumer price index or the wage price index – whichever is lower – as some MPs have urged. Student contributions would also be reduced for low-income earners and the timing of indexation would change to deduct compulsory repayments first. The review recommended expanded access to Youth Allowance for students whose parents earn up to $68,857 and those studying part-time. The changes were required to reach ambitious targets laid out in the report, anticipating at least 80% of the workforce would need a vocational (VET) or university qualification by 2050. It requires a 20% increase in attainments, particularly among Australians from underrepresented backgrounds. To meet the targets, the system will need to more than double the number of commonwealth-supported university students, from 860,000 to 1.8 million. The latest data shows Australians from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds make up 25% of the population, but only 17% of undergraduate enrolments. Projections suggest that to achieve parity by the designated timeline, students from target cohorts would need to make up 62.9% of enrolment growth. It recommended a needs-based funding model that acknowledges the cost of providing additional supports to ensure priority…
2024-02-24 09:00:30
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