Apprentices in traditional trades studying at the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE will now have more options than ever before with the official opening of new, purpose built training facilities.
The Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans, welcomed the opening of the new facilities in Echuca by the Labor Senator for Victoria, Gavin Marshall on 30 March 2011.
The Australian Government has provided $5 million from Round 2 of the Education Investment Fund (EIF) for the project.
The new facilities at the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE are one of six vocational education and training projects, worth $110 million in total, funded through the EIF in Victoria.
The Government’s investment will allow the TAFE to provide an additional 330 student enrolments over three years in new and existing in-demand trade courses such as electrical, automobile, rural, engineering, construction and plumbing trades.
The training facilities are tailored to meet the needs of industry. They offer a state-of-the-art learning environment, and for the first time many local students will be able to do their courses locally in Echuca instead of having to travel to Bendigo. As a result, apprentices and the regional community will benefit from this investment with better learning outcomes and employment opportunities.
EIF projects in the vocational education and training (VET) sector provide critical training infrastructure for students and are essential to meeting the increasingly higher skill needs of business and industry at a regional, state and national level. The Government has committed to halve the proportion of Australians ages 20-64 without qualifications at Certificate III level and this project will directly contribute to achieving this aim.
Announced in 2008, the Australian Government has committed over $4 billion through the EIF initiative to provide funding for projects that create or develop significant infrastructure in higher education, research and vocational education and training institutions.
More information on the EIF initiative can be found at: www.deewr.gov.au/EIF
