THE Victorian government has sacked at least half of the state's TAFE institute chairs, shocking the vocational education industry. Six chairs have been sacked and one more is yet to be told they will not be retain in the role, a spokesman for Higher Education Minister Peter Hall confirmed. The spokesman said the chairs were from the Box Hill, Holmesglen, South West, SuniTAFE, NMIT and other TAFEs. He said the changes were part of a shift to a more commercial focus. National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Victorian secretary Colin Long says 10 of the 14 TAFE chairs in Victoria have been sacked. "This is yet another example of a government determined to impose its commercialising, privatising agenda on our TAFE system," Dr Long said in a statement. Victorian TAFE Association chief executive David Williams says the move was a shock. "It's come as a shock to many of the people involved," Mr Williams told AAP. They weren't expecting this. The spokesman said the changes had been foreshadowed in the government's response to the TAFE Reform Panel's recommendations. Earlier this month, the state government restored some of the $290 million it had cut from TAFE institutions after protests and course closures.