Having given the green light for a trade training centre at Roxburgh Park, the Abbott government has announced an “independent” review of what it is now calling a Labor initiative.
“The quality of Labor’s trade training centres (TTC) in schools program will be independently reviewed amid feedback that students are not graduating with the skills employers need,” Assistant Education Minister Sussan Ley said last week.
Ms Ley said taxpayers had spent more than $1.4 billion on the program “since Labor dismantled the Howard government’s successful, curriculum-focused Australian technical colleges in 2009 in favour of an infrastructure-centric approach”.
Before facing electoral defeat in 2007, prime minister John Howard pledged a five-fold expansion of his controversial technical colleges program, promising $2.1 billion over 10 years to establish 100 campuses across the country.
The Abbott government has delivered final-round and start-up funding of $209 million to 136 centres since the start of this year.
“Unfortunately, Labor’s TTC program was more focused on building flashy new buildings rather than the quality of training,” Ms Ley said last week.
She said industry had raised numerous concerns about inconsistencies in the quality of training, qualifications and equipment offered from one TTC to the next. “We need to get more kids into trades and training if we’re to address the nation’s skills shortages, but it also needs to be high quality and include on-the-job experience to be effective,” she said.
Ms Ley said the key focus would be ensuring there were stronger links between industry and schools and better career-guidance for students. The review will examine the current level of use of training centres, the standard of training and training outcomes.
Ms Ley said senior bureaucrat Patricia Scott would undertake the review and report to the government later this year.
More details: www.education.gov.au/trade-training-centres-schools-program
