TAFE directors know the score — but choose to ignore it.

TAFE directors know the problems facing the sector — so why are they burying their heads in the sand?

Their own study highlighted the key issues facing TAFE - including low pay and the lack of ongoing jobs - in a report drawn up by the State Services Authorities.

Yet instead of concluding that TAFE institutes should pay teaches a decent salary and improve their job security, it decided the answer lay in better recruitment ads and a streamlined application process so that applying for TAFE jobs was "not too onerous".

The findings are contained in Workplace Planning in TAFE -- a comparative discussion paper, drawn up for the Victorian TAFE Association in March.

It found that the TAFE sector was under "enormous pressure", with workforce issues as among the key challenges, including looming teacher shortages, an ageing profession and the need for new skill sets to adapt to the changing face of TAFE.

The paper identifies the issues underpinning the crisis as included:

• "The need to replenish the ageing workforce"
• "The limitations on the number of ongoing permanent positions ..."
• "The inability to hire qualified staff because of the tight labour market"
• "Superior private sector pay rates".

Managing the expected retirement of so many teachers would also be challenging, it noted.

The obvious solution would be to make TAFE teaching more attractive by offering ongoing jobs at an attractive salary. Instead the institutes are trying to spin their way out of trouble -- by urging "more creative strategies for advertising jobs".

Meanwhile, they're hellbent on the introduction of total renumeration packages that would allow them to pile even more workload onto those teachers lucky enough to be employed on staff, so they can squeeze every last drop out of them.

It's time to stop the rip-off.