Callers broke down and cried on ABC radio as Education Minister Adrian Piccoli went on air to talk about his TAFE reforms.

One caller, then the next, sobbed.

TAFE funding has been slashed by the NSW government: Education Minister Adrian Piccoli. Credit:Louie Douvis

Vocational training is supposed to be about a leg up. But for single mother Emma from Coogee, the ladder was ripped away when she received a letter from Randwick TAFE saying the early childhood diploma she was midway through would now cost more than $2000 a year. When she enrolled it was free. She didn't have the money.

"You tell me how that's fair," she asked Piccoli last Monday.