Commenting on the recent decision by TAFE Ultimo to preserve the second floor of its library, Jamie Parker, MP for Balmain said:
"This week we received news of a great win for the students, staff and supporters who have been campaigning hard to save the TAFE Ultimo library.
The second floor of Ultimo TAFE's extremely important library area was slated by management to be taken over for corporate office space.
Under this Liberal government we have seen enormous cuts to TAFE funding, which has undermined the provision of services to students, cut staff and casualised the workforce.
At Ultimo, as at many other TAFEs, the pressure has been on disability services, career advice and other support services such as the library.
The government's agenda is to make TAFE more like a corporation, and less like the kind of caring education system students need. TAFE has been pushed into a race with the scandal-ridden private sector, which has dramatically undermined its capacity.
Students and staff came together with the support of the Public Service Association and the Teachers' Federation and beat back this ridiculous proposal.
As my electorate includes Ultimo, it was very inspiring to be able to work with these determined students and staff as they came together to stand up for their right to a quality educational environment.
Thank you to everyone who supported the campaign and demonstrated that together we can successfully protect student services."
ENDS
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