The press recently reported the likely rise in Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) debts of between 4.2 and 4.8 per cent based on annual indexing to inflation.
That’s bad news for university graduates struggling under the weight of crippling debts, all while establishing a new career and navigating life.
Last year, HECS debt owners also copped a whopping 7.1 per cent inflation rise on their debt.
That means undergraduate students can have a debt in the tens of thousands of dollars before Day One in the workforce.
And all the time this occurs, Australia cries out for skilled trade workers.
Worse still is that as we continue to march off reams of school leavers into higher education pathways, what we often end up with is more double-degree baristas.
What looks at a distance like a university course that will never really come to fruition often turns out to be another debt that limits real savings and reduces the likelihood of buying a home and getting ahead in life.
This doesn’t mean all university courses are bad or that the learning pathways aren’t ideal for some, but we really have to think about whether this is the right route for our limited youth pool.
Apprenticeships mean young people earn while they learn.
TAFE and other trade training provider fees are microscopic compared to uni fees and trade graduates will go into the world with valued and transferable skills they can utilise for a lifetime.
So, come on and give your kids a real go. Get them into a trade apprenticeship.