[an_aparallel]

Let me paint the average picture of adult further education for you....step 1: get excited by a degree, all the possibilities...the nerdiness...the minutae...step 2: first day in class spent doing roll call for 40 minures, followed by a lecturer trying to turn a pc on...finally gets it working, only for you realise theyll be doing a joint in person lecture + online lecture to save costs....step 3: you cant understand a word theyre saying as no one from admin vetted their english speaking ability (or more likely were the cheapest in a pool of candidates)...step 4:your course notes are outsourced to youtube videos and mooc links. Step 5: teacher announces a class quiz is coming up and not to worry because you can use chatgpt to answer its questions. Step 5: class is paused because a student needs spoon feeding every step of their classwork.

This is a summary of my actual experience doing a technical certification in Australia (and mirrored by others who have done proper degrees too), if youre not going to a top shelf institute or dont vet every teacher for every subhect, i can wholeheartedly say, fuck further education in 2025.

[cj]

Are you describing the same further education provided to "regular" age college kids in Australia? If so, wow.

Although not surprising. My 19 y/o niece goes to a university in Florida and even though she lives on campus, she only has a dozen in person classes per semester. Nearly everything is still online. It's like they never undid covid.

[chris_wot]

No, this isn't University (though that can be patchy). Under the Abbott government, he decided to gut TAFE (the government run Technical And Further Education) and put in a whole bunch of privately run VET colleges. They are almost universally awful and were designed to bring in overseas students who used it as a springboard for permanent residency.

The current government is doing a major crack down on them.

[an_aparallel]

Its hortible...if the institutes conducted online classes like they had even an ounce of tech awareness (ie invested in a bunch of elgato gear + lighting) it might be excusable or tolerable. But tbh its a horrible format

[an_aparallel]

Im describing TAFE, but a colleague at work who recently graduated in engineering at macq uni complained about understanding teachers which imo is the worst of the points i listed.

[strken]

I did a TAFE course back in 2007 (a CCNA) and I was impressed with the first year, but swapped teachers in the second year and was absolutely appalled by the low quality.

I would imagine there's still enormous variability in 2025. It sounds like your course was even worse, possibly because it didn't have such a big hands on component and could offer an online version.

[chris_wot]

If you are in Australia and using a vocational college, then this is what you'll get. Try doing a course with UNE.

[ajxs]

UNE is a great option if you're looking to enter university as a mature-age student. The requirements differ widely between universities for mature-age entry, with some of the Go8 universities excluding mature-age students from certain degrees altogether.

[chris_wot]

This is news to me. Which subjects and which Go8 universities do this?

[ajxs]

USYD's website states that mature-age entry students are only eligible for a select set of courses: https://www.sydney.edu.au/study/applying/admission-pathways/...

Being fair, they do make it sound as though you can enter a degree you're eligible for, and then apply to transfer to another degree after a year of study. If you're transferring to a similar degree, your completed course units would probably count towards your total required elective units.

[chris_wot]

There are ways of getting into those courses without going through the Mature Age Scheme. Mature age students just don't get preferential treatment.