Stop Netflix Bingeing, Start Bingeing On Cheap Online Degrees Instead, Government Says

Cut-price short courses for essential industries will be offered online, one of a raft of new measures to give the struggling tertiary education industry some reprieve announced on Sunday.

Australians who have lost their jobs are being encouraged to “use their time” during the pandemic to retrain online in a bid to fill skill shortages once the COVID-19 outbreak is contained.

In an Australian first, the government will provide 20,000 greatly reduced places in six-month diplomas, or certificates delivered online by universities or private institutions.

"Rather than bingeing on Netflix, binge on studying, binge on looking at a teaching degree, looking at a nursing degree, and allied health degrees," education minister Dan Tehan told reporters on Sunday.

"Areas where we need people, and we are going to need people as we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic."

Tehan said the plan was to help people retrain if they had lost their jobs, adding that the cost of some courses had been reduced by up to three-quarters.

Tehran encouraged people to contact their local universities for more information.

According to Universities Australia the loss of international students due to COVID-19 restrictions, and predicted second semester declines, will see universities lose billions of dollars in revenue.

Tehan said the federal government would also guarantee $18 billion funding for universities even if there was a drop in the number of domestic enrolments. He also announced  $100 million in regulatory fee relief in a move designed particularly to help private tertiary education colleges.

The peak body representing universities welcomed the announcement but warned that even with the package, an estimated 21,000 jobs will be lost in the sector over the next six months.

Universities Australia Chair Professor Deborah Terry described the measures as "an important first step.”

“Universities will be working very hard to ensure these six-month long courses are ready to commence in May. They will give people essential skills needed to help rebuild the Australian economy once the pandemic is over," Terry said.

But Terry warned that even with guaranteed CGS and HELP funding, the road ahead will still be very tough.

“Individual universities are already cutting costs across the board through very substantial reductions in operational spending, deferral of vital capital works, and reductions in senior staff salaries," she said.

“This will be nowhere near enough to cover what we conservatively estimate as a revenue decline of between $3 billion and $4.6 billion.”

Terry said universities will continue to seek low interest loans from banks and state governments.

It comes as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told Australians to brace for a significant rise in the jobless rate as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

"That's a reflection of the queues we have seen outside Centrelink and that is the reflection of the health restrictions that have had a severe economic impact," he told ABC's Insiders program on Sunday.

"There is going to be a big hole in the global economy, there's no doubt about that."

However, Frydenberg said he had "no hard and fast numbers as yet" to reflect the actual size of the virus impact in Australia.

Australians will get the first taste of what the pandemic has meant for unemployment when March labour force figures are released on Thursday.

Contact the author alattouf@networkten.com.au