Mark Dreyfus QC MP, Federal Member for Isaacs, and Cr Kris Bolam JP, Frankston City Mayor, will this Thursday (27 October) formally announce Chisholm Institute of TAFE's Frankston Campus as the site of the new $19 million Frankston START (School Tafe Alliance for Regional Training) Trade Training Centre, Council approved land at Samuel Sherlock Reserve to be used for this educational purpose.
Mark Dreyfus QC MP, Federal Member for Isaacs, and Cr Kris Bolam JP, Frankston City Mayor, will this Thursday (27 October) formally announce Chisholm Institute of TAFE's Frankston Campus as the site of the new $19 million Frankston START (School Tafe Alliance for Regional Training) Trade Training Centre, Council approved land at Samuel Sherlock Reserve to be used for this educational purpose.
Construction of the new centre is scheduled to commence this summer with funding provided under the Australian Government's Trade Training Centres in Schools Program. The Federal Government will provide $2.5 billion over 10 years to enable secondary schools to seek funding for Trade Training Centres.
Mr Dreyfus, Cr Bolam and principals from 13 local secondary schools who will be partnering with the Australian Government, Chisholm TAFE and Council, are understandably excited about the announcement.
"This new trade training centre will provide students from Years 9-12 with access to vocational education and training, and give schools a broader range of options to improve Year 12 retention rates and enhance pathways into vocational careers," Mr Dreyfus said.
"Education takes many paths, including the traditional trades and new and emerging technologies and industries and I am proud to be part of a government that has invested substantially in the education of our children.
"I congratulate Chisholm TAFE, Frankston Council and all participating schools for taking the iniative to help create this much needed Trade Training Centre in this region," Mr Dreyfus said.
Mayor Bolam said: "This Trade Training Centre is going to make an enormous difference for generations of students in this municipality".
"Once technical schools were discarded in the 1980s few schools could offer realistic avenues for students who preferred hands on' work.
"The VCAL program has helped address that and this new centre is another giant leap. Students from 13 different schools will be able to access modern facilities and expert teaching in the area they want to pursue a career in," the Mayor said.
Mayor Bolam praised the 13 schools for the initiative they have created by using their Federal Government grants collectively to facilitate the building of this centre.
Ken McKay, Chairman, Board of Management, Frankston START Trade Training Centre, and Assistant Principal of Patterson River Secondary College, said the consortium of 13 schools in the Frankston region initiated the successful application to the federal government for funding with Council support and believes an innovative regional trade training model will be delivered.
"A lot of planning has already gone on to ensure that when the doors are opened to students they will be participating in high quality trade training, using state of the art, industry standard equipment. It will be a centre specifically designed to meet the needs of secondary students in the Frankston region.
"Frankston City Council has supported the schools consortium from the outset, and has committed to provide services to the Trade Training Centre when it opens. It is also anticipated that students will become involved in Frankston City Council community projects," Mr McKay.
The 13 schools are: Carrum Downs Secondary College; Elisabeth Murdoch College; Flinders Christian Community College; Frankston High School Senior Campus; John Paul College; McClelland Secondary College; Monterey Secondary College; Mount Erin Secondary College; Mount Eliza Secondary College; Patterson River Secondary College; Naranga Special School; Toorak College; and Woodleigh School.
For more information on the Trade Training Centres in Schools Program please visit: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/TradeTrainingCentres/Pages/default.aspx.
