Hume Highway not the only career path?

Trade schools are back

Wangaratta will be first to get new tech colleges
BY BRAD WORRALL - Border Mail 9 Mar 06

WANGARATTA will be home to the first of a new breed of tech schools in Victoria. Education Minister Lynne Kosky said up to $8 million was to be made available...– full story...

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Only last week, the State Government announced an "INQUIRY INTO RETAINING YOUNG PEOPLE IN RURAL TOWNS AND COMMUNITIES" and here they have the answer if only they would recognise it.

The government fails to realise that rural families are raised with the expectation that the kids MUST leave home at the end of their secondary education to persue a formal qualification to enter the workforce.

To retain young people in rural areas, the government needs to guarantee every young person a local career opportunity.

This could be achieved by offering trade school qualifications in every regional town. For example, the kids in the King Valley area would have options at Wangaratta, Benalla, Mansfield and Myrtleford with each regional town offering different trade qualifications based on regional demand.

This would allow the young people to remain in their community throughout their career training. What they do upon graduation, is anyone's guesss.

It should start with woodwork, metalwork and home economics being taught in all high schools from year seven. Woodwork opens the young mind to the construction trades. Metalwork opens the mind to the mechanical engineering trades whilst home economics opens the mind to the humanity trades.

This in itself would enable our young people to set career goals long before they pass or fail year twelve.

Trade qualifications should not be the domain of TAFE or our universities. They should be run in our public secondary schools and adult education centres in conjunction with the regional industries.

This is not about academic achievement or the state-wide perception of skills shortages, it is about the very viability of the local regions where these young people are growing up.

Whilst those who chose to go to university would still have to move to the cities, those who do not would still have a guaranteed career path in their local region.