Talking Point: Putting the focus back on trades

JEREMY ROCKLIFF: Big jobs growth will be in fields needing vocational skills

OPPORTUNITY: Montrose Bay High School principal Pieta McKay with students Jye Graham and Teeka Ransley and Minister Jeremy Rockliff.

For too long vocational education has been viewed as the second option to university, but the facts paint a very different picture. We must ensure all post-year 12 pathways are given the same priority.

Nine out of 10 occupations with the greatest new job growth predictions for the next five years require a vocational skill.

This year the Government will roll out a campaign to raise the profile of vocational education and training (VET) and awareness of career opportunities, because it is critical we change perceptions.

Students are able to get a head start by studying VET in Schools or opting for a school-based apprenticeship, all while studying for their Tasmanian Certificate of Education. A school-based apprenticeship allows students to gain skills while training with an employer and earning a wage.

Packages of Learning keep students engaged in the critical middle years 9 and 10 and allow them to explore paths to vocational education and employment.

Developed with industry, Packages of Learning match our growth areas of Advanced Manufacturing, Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Architecture and Construction, Hospitality and Tourism. Students are given the opportunity to solve real problems facing industry.

Feedback from students has been overwhelming positive. Teeka Ransley from Montrose Bay High said, “It’s a great opportunity for me to have experience in construction, we learn relevant real life skills we need for the future”.

Last year, five schools were in a pilot. This year Packages of Learning are offered in 12 government schools and one non-government school.

We are continuing to connect students with industry through our regional Trade Training Centres.

I am particularly pleased with the successes at the South Eastern Trade Training Centre in Sorell. Its work is run with support from its advisory board from local industry, local government, the Department of Education, South East Region Development Association, the South East Employment Hub, Tasman Business and Tourism Association and Glamorgan Spring Bay Council.

It is a model we are going to support in other areas given the Trade Training Centre and the South East Region Development Association has filled more than 100 jobs in the past year, and 350 new jobs have been identified in 2020.

We will always back our public training provider. Since 2015 we have increased recurrent funding to TasTAFE from $73.5 million to $79.4 million this financial year, 80 per cent of the state’s training budget, and 10 per cent more than promised by Labor.

Tasmania performs better than the Australian average in most areas for apprentices and trainees and VET students have better than average employment outcomes.

We are investing $15.5 million to set up TasTAFE Centres of Excellence, in agriculture, trades and water and in tourism and hospitality.

We have committed a further $5 million to upgrade nursing training facilities. And $2.9 million for TasTAFE capacity building includes seven more nursing teachers, 75 more Diploma of Nursing places and increased pre-vocational training for construction apprentices.

The Government is working with industry and Drysdale to deliver training options needed to support this rapidly growing sector. This includes a Tourism and Hospitality Skills Committee made up of industry members to ensure courses match industry needs. We will support industry in its longer term goal of a not-for-profit Registered Training Organisation run by industry, for industry, to complement the Drysdale courses.

This government will always champion vocational education and training and ensure students have every opportunity to develop the skills they need for work.

Jeremy Rockliff is Tasmanian Education and Training Minister.