On Thursday, Prue Car visited the campus along with Labor’s candidate for Bega Leanne Atkinson, where she said almost every time a town’s connected learning centre (CLC) had been built off site its TAFE campus had closed down around the same time, such as at Dapto and Quirindi. 

“As shadow minister, I’m pretty concerned about the future of this TAFE campus because of the construction of the connected learning centre,” Ms Car said. 

A CLC is currently being constructed at the old Bega District Hospital, which the NSW government has said is part of its plan for TAFE in the region. 

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Ms Atkinson said teachers and staff at the campus were anxious about their jobs and she had received information courses offered at the campus would transition to the CLC. 

“TAFE is a critical part of the future of Bega – but we are witnessing the slow dismantling of this great institution,” she said.

“Teachers at Bega TAFE need certainty and they deserve to know what the future holds for them. We cannot afford any more job losses in this community.”

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They both called on Member for Bega Andrew Constance to make a clear statement that the campus would not close and would remain open for teaching students. 

But in August, Mr Constance told the Bega District News there were no plans to close the existing buildings at the TAFE campus. 

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Labor has committed to reserving at least 70 per cent of all NSW VET funding for TAFE.