The budget is a big piece of work and as more people delve through it, more is discovered. The Koala recently discovered QILT funding had been slashed by AUD$8m over a four-year period.
QILT is an acronym widely known in Higher Education Circles. It stands for Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching. According to the QILT website:
The QILT are a suite of surveys for higher education that cover the student life cycle from commencement to employment. QILT provides government and the sector with robust, nationally consistent performance data to uphold and drive quality improvement.
The Social Research Centre administers the QILT surveys on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Education.
Data collected through the QILT surveys drives the ComparED website. Prospective students can use ComparED to explore and compare Australian higher education institutions and study areas, based on the real-life experiences of current students and recent graduates.
The slashing of funding appears to be at odds with the Government’s quality agenda. As one learned reader of the Koala puts it “This is a vital metric is assessing the success and quality of providers that seems at complete odds with the “quality” mantra being given by the Gov. Why champion quality and then cut funding to the number one tool used to assess student feedback and opinions?”
Here is the budget paper excerpt.
The Koala is short on information as to why this has been done. Efficiencies found? Not sure.
One thing appears consistent with the people the Koala speaks with. We should be investing in this area to improve outcomes, not taking away from it.
