Should we talk about Job-Ready Graduates? Maybe we should focus on student poverty first
Ant Bagshaw and Julie Hare take on Job-Ready Graduates, the policy no one defends. Julie blames the sector for letting it pass in 2020 without a fight. Ant defends one part of it: shifting more of the cost onto students to expand the system. They agree the price signals don't change what students choose to study.
Julie thinks Labor is holding back the fix as a sweetener for the next election. If so, students will have been on JRG fees for a decade. Ant points out that any fix risks bad headlines unless an offer can be found for nurses and teachers.
The real argument comes later: the sector…
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