The South Bank Institute, of which the School of Printing is part, has already told half the remaining 12 staff at the School that their jobs have gone, with the remaining six teachers looking at a peripatetic role visiting students in their places of employment for assessment.
An on-line training facility combined with virtually no printing equipment clearly requires far fewer funds than the current situation, but equally clearly is a shadow of the current level of training available. The School’s machine room alone has 40 printing units providing a wide array of experience for the apprentices, who also gain a far broader understanding of print than would be possible in their own workplace, partly through the technology available there, and partly through mixing with their peers.
Print educationalists in Queensland fear the Institute wants to run down remaining numbers and sell off the Morningside campus, which is the current print school building, and which save for the print and performing arts students is already virtually empty, in order to realise the $90m value to inject into its new $550m South Bank complex. The move will also fuel anxiety through print educationalists in other States, who will all wonder where the axe will fall next.
The Brisbane School pf Printing is more than 80 years old, and for all that time has been the primary source of print training for Queensland, Northern Territory and northern NSW. It currently has more than 200 students on its books studying Certificate II and III courses. Students come to the School for four week blocks over a four year period of their apprenticeship. It has four departments; prepress, machine printing, screen and sign, and bindery.
Ron Jackson, one of those teachers who has been told to look for another job, and who is also LIA national secretary and treasurer, believes that the changes will have a significant impact on Queensland’s print future, he says, “An awful lot of people in the print industry here started through the Brisbane School of Print. It is probably the primary source of new young people to the print industry. We still receive half a dozen calls a week from print companies seeking young people.”
Jackson says that Craig Sherrin, the Institute’s Director has ‘turned his back’ on the printing industry because he does not want the Institute to offer Certificate II and III courses in the future, preferring instead to concentrate on higher level courses which attract overseas students, and their money.
Jackson and Sherrin also disagree over the financial aspects of the course, with Jackson claiming with the government paying $18,500 per student and with running costs of $600,000 a year the School runs $500,000 in the black, however, according to Jackson, Sherrin claims the real figure is $500,000 in the red.
Sherrin has told Jackson he will meet with the Printing Industries to discuss the future of training in the State, but according to Jackson the association only represents a minority of Queensland printers.
Craig Sherin was unavailable for comment when Australian Printer called and will not return calls.
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