IPEd urges government to reconsider removal of student loans for writing, editing courses

The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) has urged the federal government to reconsider its decision to remove tertiary writing and editing courses’ eligibility for students loans, saying it will have a ‘serious impact on the editing profession’.

IPEd’s submission in response to the government’s VET FEE-Help reforms, set to come into effect on 1 January 2017, says changes to student loan eligibility for courses such as the Diplomas of Professional Writing and Editing (PWE) and Journalism will see a loss of skilled professionals, jobs and opportunities.

The submission also highlights ‘the need to develop the skills of editors, the diversity of the profession and the myriad of industries in which skilled editors play a valuable and important role’.

Writers Victoria chair Nicolas Brasch has also responded to the government’s announcement, writing that removing VET FEE-Help from PWE was ‘retrograde on a number of levels’. ‘The Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing includes the word “professional” for a reason,’ Brasch wrote. ‘While students are provided with the knowledge and skills to enable them to become published authors, they are also pushed towards developing all-round skills that could see them succeed in as many forms of writing as possible.’

Category: Local news