This has meant not being able to work full time - so I have appreciated having excellent, regular tuition at an affordable cost.

I have held down casual work around study and even knocked back quite a lot of callouts for the sake of keeping up my attendance to class. Now the prospect of having to pay high fees and incur a HECS debt if I choose to go on to a Diploma level is something I dread.

While I want to develop my skills further and give myself some chance at employment in the future (I am 58) I don't want a debt to worry about paying back. TAFE has been for me not just training and a regular social group but the justification to get on and do things to break the unemployment doldrums and anxiety that goes with being out of a regular job.

I can't really imagine a life without study now - of recognition and of meeting goals - being single and without children or close friends in the district. I tree-changed 10 years ago and work, work, work has meant there's not been much time for making new friends - so it is also very important to maintain social contact and interaction through classes.

I've found that even with a certificate from further education it's not necessarily a guarantee of getting a job - but the quality of teaching at BRIT is far superior to that of a small training company where I did a two-month course on Workplace Assessment and Training, after which I wasn't really confident to go and use their "training" - it was rushed and I felt "half-baked" even after the certificate had been awarded to me.

— Posted by Robyn Yeoward