TRAINING providers are unsure how a splintered tertiary sector will work, after the government allocated training and higher education to different federal departments. Vocational education and training is now a part of Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane's portfolio, while Christopher Pyne's education portfolio covers higher education, schools and international education. The Prime Minister's office has not answered inquiries on the reasons behind the split and Mr Macfarlane has declined interviews pending briefings. Providers are scratching their heads over the arrangements, which will force some to deal with four federal portfolios. The change raises many questions. Do vocational colleges with international students deal with the department of industry, education, or both? Which minister looks after income-contingent loans, available to vocational as well as higher education students? Who oversees articulation arrangements between VET and higher education, and between VET in schools and in the workplace? The new arrangements also extinguish any hope of a merger between the Australian Skills Quality Authority, the vocational education regulator, and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, the higher education regulator - an idea originally proposed for this year. Asked whether the change would add to red tape - an issue on which the Coalition campaigned vigorously - the election - Mr Pyne answered with a flat "no." University of Melbourne researcher Leesa Wheelahan said the new arrangements ended "any serious attempt" at an interconnected tertiary education sector. Different cultures will become entrenched as each bureaucracy responds to the priorities of its minister. No matter how much they say cooperation will take place, it will inevitably come second.