Certificate of General Education for Adults (CGEA) level 3 is considered “foundation level training”, under the new regime.
However, Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Intermediate is considered “Skills Creation”, and comes under a different set of funding criteria.
The fact that i’m struggling with here is that intermediate VCAL is based on CGEA level 3. In many respects they are the same.
If you already have a Certificate 2 in Anything, the Victorian government will fund your study of the CGEA 3.. but they will not fund you to study the VCAL intermediate. Apparently.
i’m confused.
i’m not alone in that.
i’ve heard that the briefing meetings are full of officials who say things like, “i’ll have to take that question on notice”, because even they can’t find their way around the morass of contradictory regulations.
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The real catch with this new “demand-driven” policy framework is that the government will fund their demanding citizens to study only one course at any certificate level above “foundation” (ie above certificate 2). If you have done a certificate 2 in horticulture, you will not be funded to re-train in hospitality, unless you can start at certificate level 3.
Even if you can only get 2 days work gardening and you need to supplement with some evening bar work, and your gardening income is all going on the massive Melbourne rental rates, or you’re living in a boarding house where the operators are taking all your invalid pension and more.
One bite of the cherry.
No more life-long learning.
User pays. And pays. Or is left at the bottom of the heap.
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