New Technical College opportunity for Wide Bay
1st November, 2007
Wide Bay residents interested in an apprenticeship or traineeship will have more opportunities to pursue their career of choice under a re-elected Coalition Government.Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss, today welcomed the Coalition’s plans to establish 100 new Australian Technical Colleges across the country and said he would expect at least one fo these new colleges to be in Wide Bay.
“I welcome this bold plan to boost vocational and technical education opportunities for the seven out of 10 young Australians who do not go directly from school to university,” Mr Truss said.
Of the 100 Australian Technical Colleges, 30 will be new colleges - including two specialist Australian Defence Technical Colleges.
The Coalition will also provide funding to enable 70 existing secondary state or independent schools to become Australian Technical Colleges. These technical colleges will offer students a year 12 qualification and a school-based apprenticeship. The Coalition will provide capital grants of up to $10 million for schools to convert into specialist Australian Technical Colleges.
A re-elected Coalition Government will invest $2.1 billion over 10 years into this plan. This will include $271 million to 2010-11 to establish the first 19 of these 100 new Australian Technical Colleges.
Mr Truss will be talking to local secondary schools to determine their interest in specialising in technical and vocational education by becoming an Australian Technical College.
“The new Colleges will be industry led, and will have strong links to local businesses to ensure that local students are learning the necessary skills to enable them to get a career in our local industries,” he said.
Wide Bay residents will also benefit from the Coalition’s plans to make available a $3,000 Work Skills Voucher to any Australian aged 25 and over who does not have year 12 or equivalent or certificate level II or higher qualifications. Each year this will help at least 60,000 Australians to improve their skills and move into the workforce or get the job they want.
Through these measures, a re-elected Coalition Government will continue to reward and encourage those who are contributing to Australian society, and Australia’s long-term prosperity.
ENDS
