Some will say coming to campus gave them a reason to get up in the morning. Others will recall the inspiration from a teacher, or a learning experience that sparked a career. 

For some, TAFE changed a life.

The cluster of TAFE buildings in Wood Street is quiet these days, and our institute is in trouble. 

For any person who walked the footpaths of the local campus in the past when classrooms hummed with chatter, it is a different picture today.

The Inverell Times has reported in the past week on proposed staff and teaching cuts to TAFE, and a second round of consultations this week is more positive, but in the end, the institute will still need to meet a demanding bottom line. In the face of the NSW government Smart and Skilled reforms to training, putting our public institution in competition with private providers has incited rapid change in TAFE.

Now a document leaked to Fairfax Media has disclosed the federal government has put a COAG proposal to all states and territories with a plan to fund and equalize all vocational education. TAFE has been earmarked in the document for further reform to ensure it is competitive.

It will be hard going, as TAFE came into the ring top heavy, with bodies and bricks and mortar it could ill-afford to retain when confronted with state budget cuts and the necessity to compete against sleek virtual providers of vocational training.

What does this mean for Inverell?

It means we will need to adapt to change if we want to keep our TAFE. 

But we must also fight for our teachers and staff to give the diversity of cultures and abilities the very best education and support they need for successful futures.

Distance education cannot replace the human interaction so many TAFE students need. It may mean pressing our institute to release assets to invest in Inverell bodies on the ground to give our locals a hand up to a brighter future.

In June last year, this newspaper called for community support to back our TAFE, because if it slips away, whatever the form, it will not be recoverable.

More than ever, the message remains the same.