Hearing adjourned over Hastings fire A HASTINGS businessman last week faced Frankston Magistratesâ Court charged with failing to extinguish a fire in the open on Wednesday 31 December last year. Alan Duke, of A&A Worm Farm Waste Systems, of Frankston-Flinders Rd, appeared at a contest mention but did not enter a formal plea. The case was adjourned until 1 December and is expected to be dealt with by diversion hearing. On Saturday 3 January, fires burnt out a wood yard in Reid Parade, parts of Warringine reserve and threatened nearby houses in temperatures of over 40 degrees and with strong northerlies fanning the flames. Mr Dukeâs neighbour John Gaylor, of Jimmin Firewood, said the out-of-control fire âruined my businessâ. âI lost three or four yearsâ worth of wood and machinery,â Mr Gaylor said.
âI am talking about a lot of money here.â Police prosecutor Andrew Chiodo said the charge of failing to extinguish a fire referred to an incident on 31 December â not the larger weekend fires which had Hastings, Crib Point and Bittern homeowners on edge. Diversion hearings usually proceed on the basis that the defendant acknowledges responsibility for an action, and is contrite. It is believed other charges: failing to comply with the conditions of a CFA fire permit, and leaving a fire unattended during a country fire period, have been dropped. Mr Duke did not return calls from The News. ďŽ A report in The News last week (âFire alarm: catastrophe in waitingâ) wrongly stated that the Hastings fire on Saturday 3 January had âstarted in a wood yard at Hastingsâ.
Unanswered questions on Evocca graduation rates EVOCCA College is refusing to reveal graduation rates at its Frankston campus in the wake of a damning Senate inquiry into the funding and management of vocational education and training (VET) providers. The Queensland based college, which has more than 40 campuses nationwide, was one of several registered training organisations offering short diploma courses criticised in the report over its marketing to students (âCollegeâs marketing to students slammedâ, The News 27/10/15). The Senate committee heard allegations vulnerable students with little or no chance of completing courses are enrolled by some private sector operators to boost enrolment numbers and rake in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits at the expense of taxpayers. The federal government banned private colleges earlier this year from offering so-called âfreeâ iPads and laptops to persuade students to sign on the dotted line. Students are signed up for âstudy now, pay laterâ deals with federal VET FEE-HELP funding, paid for by taxpayers, not having to be repaid until students earn at least $50,000 per year. The Senate committee tasked with investigating the private colleges industry recommended the repayment threshold be lowered to $30,000 or $40,000. When asked about graduation rates at its Frankston campus Evocca College communications executive Suzanne Ross said in a statement that the college âis focused on delivering quality vocational education and training that is geared towards students generating strong outcomesâ. âThis year 79.4 per cent of graduates from Evocca College Frankston have either continued with further study or are in employment.â When asked how many students had graduated at its Frankston campus, Ms Ross subsequently replied: âItâs Evoccaâs policy not to disclose statistics relating to specific campuses.â Data released by the Department of Education and Training reveals Evocca had 27,907 students enrolled nationally last year but just 1053 stu-
Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au
Marketing under fire: Evocca College opened its Frankston campus in Balmoral St in 2013. Picture: Gary Sissons
dents completed courses, a completion rate of less than 4 per cent. Evocca received more than $250 million in VET FEEHELP funding in 2014 according to the Departmentâs figures. âEvocca College has completion rates which are well in excess of the industry average for both public and private VET FEE-HELP providers,â Ms Ross said. Department of Education and Training statistics show Evocca Collegeâs benchmarked progress rate of units completed by students against units undertaken was 27.6 per cent against a national average of 64.4 per cent for VET FEE-HELP providers nationally. Western Port News 3 November 2015
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