Students will have access to better training opportunities to get skills for in-demand jobs across the Wimmera and Grampians regions, thanks to a suite of new projects funded by the Andrews Labor Government.
Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney today visited FedUni TAFE’s Wimmera campus to announce more than $1.1 million for five projects as part of the Labor Government’s Regional and Specialist Training Fund.
The fund enables training to be delivered that meet industry demand for specific skills in regions, and specialist areas that are not being adequately met in the current training market.
The funding will provide two traineeship qualifications – the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, and Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care – to help the Wimmera region overcome critical shortages of qualified staff in childcare centres, kindergartens and for out-of-school-hours and holiday programs.
FedUni TAFE is targeting local students with existing qualifications to upskill, as well as identifying new students who want a career in early childhood education.
From 2020, these courses will also be added to the Free TAFE list and will support the Labor Government’s roll-out of three-year-old kindergarten. In an Australian-first, the Labor Government is investing almost $5 billion over the next decade to provide three-year-old children with access to 15 hours of funded kindergarten programs.
A traineeship program, supported through the Regional and Specialist Training Fund, is allowing Individual Support Certificate students to earn while they learn, creating greater incentives for people to skill up in the areas of aged and disability care.
This project is supporting career-changers who normally can’t afford to leave work to study fulltime and enter the health sector.
While at the TAFE, Minister Tierney opened the new hothouse. This project, also funded through the Regional and Specialist Training Fund, offers enhanced training facilities to those undertaking a Certificate III in Horticulture.
This fund has lastly enabled FedUni TAFE to develop online interactive learning as part of the Certificate II in Electrotechnology to support an emerging workforce in the telecommunications and electrical industries.
Since 2015, the Government has invested more than $1.3 billion to rebuild our TAFE and training system and ensure students can get the skills they need for the jobs they want.
Thousands of Victorians are on the way to getting the skills they need to secure jobs in high-demand industries, with more than 19,000 students enrolled in Free TAFE courses across the state, driving a doubling of commencements compared to the same TAFE courses at the same time last year.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney
“We’re making sure students have access to real training that meets the needs of local businesses and industry.”
“Each of these projects respond directly to local demands for skills in the Wimmera and Grampians regions, meaning graduates can find a great job and hit the ground running as soon as they are employed.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020