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Tutorials have exploded to more than double the ideal size, student support has collapsed and class engagement has worsened significantly as Australia edges towards $100,000 degrees and universities suffer a crisis of public confidence.
This is the scathing conclusion of a landmark national survey of more than 4000 staff members by the National Tertiary Education Union which compared 2019 tutorials and lectures to now. That year was the last before COVID-19 disruptions and the much-maligned Job Ready Graduates scheme was introduced.
The outlook is bleak. The survey found that 62 per cent of staff reported tutorial size had increased in that period. While research shows the ideal size for a tutorial is 10-19 students, more than half of today’s tutorials host 30 or more students.
“The consequences for students are serious,” said the report, released on Wednesday. “[Seventy eight per cent of staff] have observed worsening in student engagement and learning outcomes. More than half [52pc] have seen declining student satisfaction reflected in formal evaluation scores.”
Last year, the Herald revealed that students at the University of Sydney were forced to sit on the floor in overcrowded lecture theatres and some tutorials had up to 40 students. The university’s pro vice chancellor Professor Adam Bridgeman said at the time there was space for all students on campus.
More than 10 per cent of the nation’s university tutorials have between 50 and 100 students (11.9 per cent) compared to 5.4 per cent in 2019.
The effect is particularly bad for equity students, the NTEU concluded.
“It is hard to avoid students going under the radar, particularly those who desperately need support but are not confident enough to demand it,” said one anonymous respondent.
Course sizes, workshops and lectures have all also increased in size, the survey found.
“Students generally consult less now, and are often apologetic, starting with ‘I know you are busy’,” said another anonymous staffer.
The report comes at a critical time for Australia’s higher education sector, which is grappling with major changes and a shifting public perception. A significant overhaul is coming to domestic student funding, the government is attempting to further stem the flow of the international students on which universities are heavily financially reliant and underpayment scandals continue to abound.
Four years into government, Labor has continued the Job-Ready Graduates scheme that increased the cost of some degrees and universities have lost about $1.8 billion in funding.
“The class size explosion is being felt at campuses nationwide,” NTEU president Alison Barnes said. “The real-life consequences are unmanageable workloads with students ultimately paying the price.
“Job Ready Graduates was an abject failure and everyone knows it. It cut funding to universities and gave them no choice but to pack more students into fewer classes. One year into its second term, the federal government has still not replaced it.”
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