John Barilaro said job losses would be unavoidable but argued TAFE couldn’t continue to operate with approximately 40-60 cents of every dollar of funding going to administration.

Mr Barilaro said the government’s aim was to ensure that funding was going directly towards the education of students.

During a question and answer session at Dubbo’s Myall Street campus on Monday, Mr Barilaro said the challnge for everyone was ensuring standards didn’t drop while TAFE underwent a restructure.

“There is going to be pain and I don’t want to hide from that or mislead you that this is going to be easy,” he said in the campus’ library.

“It’s like flying an airplane through the sky and rebuild it at the same time because we still have to be focused on what we are trying to achieve and that’s the training outcome for young people so they can get jobs.”

No campuses would be closed and all of the outcomes of the restructure were about ensuring TAFE remained a leading education provider, he said.

Mr Barilaro added that despite competition from private providers, TAFE was still the premier choice for vocational education and had 84 per cent of the market in NSW, compared to just 25 per cent in Victoria.

Under the minister’s vision, existing institutes will be abolished and all TAFE campuses will be united under the one banner.

The Minister also defended TAFE fees, which have been blamed for a sharp drop in enrolments since Smart and Skilled reforms were introduced two years ago.

“We get criticised for fees and I get that. I think we went from a very low fee structure in NSW to a lot of modest increases but when you compare it to other states, we’re middle of the pack,” he said.

“When I think about an apprenticeship, $2000, to invest in four years of training, $500 a year and $10 a week, to invest in your future.

“That modest fee allows us to help the most disadvantaged and offer fee-free training to those who need it most.”