This update comes from NAVA (National Association for the Visual Arts).
“The proposed cuts to TAFEs around much of the country is a cause for real disquiet to NAVA especially the decision in NSW to only offer courses in Fine Arts (including sculpture, visual arts and ceramics) on a fee for service basis from 1 January 2013. This effectively prices the courses out of reach for most people. The rationale given for this decision was, ‘while valued by the community, (they) are areas of low employment growth’. There is no acknowledgement that education is preparation for work over 40 to 50 years, and that increasingly the skills which artists develop of creativity, adaptability and resourcefulness are sought by employers in a great range of industries. NAVA has written a letter of protest to the Premier Barry O’Farrell and is joining with other campaigners to try to reverse this decision.”
You can still add your voice to the protest over what really amounts to state abandonment of art as something of value to our society, regardless of what words accompany the decision.
Sign the petition