Vic TAFEs set for "common" student management platform

Victoria TAFE Network is poised for a major digital transformation, potentially migrating all of its 11 institutes onto a single student management system.

The education provider has chosen ReadyTech to deliver the system, which was co-designed with three TAFEs - Bendigo Kangan Institute, Chisholm Institute and Melbourne Polytechnic TAFE -and is called Ready Student.

Those three TAFEs have an estimated 40,000 students across 10 campuses, according to media reports.

The contract with the entire Victoria TAFE Network, which has initially been set down for five-year term, could eventually see the platform deployed to manage students across all institutes and campuses.

ReadyTech said its selection was part of a strategy to develop a common management platform for the TAFE network’s students.

However, in a statement to the ASX, the company was cautious in saying that wider take-up was subject to negotiations with individual TAFEs.

“At this stage, there are no committed contract values or mandated rollout timelines, and any future implementation will be subject to further scoping, approvals and customer requirements. No revenue has been contracted as part of this announcement,” ReadyTech said.

“The company will provide further updates to the market as and when material commercial arrangements are finalised."

iTnews contacted the Victorian Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions to clarify whether individual TAFEs would be given a choice of platform providers or be directed to use the ReadyTech platform.

TAFE has become a major focus of Victoria’s education spending strategy in recent years.

In its last May budget, the state set aside $459.4 million for a skills spending package, including $244 million to continue delivering free TAFE training.

The state first announced the free TAFE initiative in its 2019 budget and since then it has spent more than $800 million on the program, supporting education for 245,000 students.

The state currently has more than 60,000 students enrolled in free TAFE courses.