$10 million TAFE investment is gold for the Goldfields!
$10 million TAFE investment is gold for the Goldfields!
4th August, 2020
New $46 million Goldfields—Esperance Recovery Plan announced
$10 million TAFE investment is gold for the Goldfields!
4th August, 2020
New $46 million Goldfields—Esperance Recovery Plan announced
A $46 million package for the Goldfields—Esperance region was unveiled as part of the WA Recovery Plan to drive economic and social recovery and create a pipeline of local jobs. The package includes a $10 million funding injection to bolster trades training at Central Regional TAFE (CR TAFE), as part of the WA Government's Rebuilding our TAFEs plan.
- A new $9 million heavy plant and engineering trade workshop will provide students with a state of the art training environment, and support the delivery of job ready employees to local industry. The focus for the new workshop will be to expand training for mechanic and engineering trades, tailored to support resource sector needs.
- An additional $1 million will be spent on upgrades to an existing workshop at the Kalgoorlie TAFE campus. The combined $10 million capital works project will see approximately 400 apprentices trained at the campus each year in high demand engineering, fabrication, electrical and automotive programs.
The Kalgoorlie TAFE campus spend is part of a $167.4 million investment in capital works projects, announced by Premier McGowan last week, which will see five Western Australian TAFE colleges significantly upgraded. More than half of the total spend has been allocated to projects at regional TAFE colleges. The capital works projects, key to the State Government’s $229.2 million Rebuilding our TAFEs plan, will support learning opportunities for students and boost the WA economy by generating jobs.
The new training facilities will meet demand for more skilled workers in the Kalgoorlie—Boulder and Goldfields region by expanding training options, and increasing the number of half price courses available as part of the Lower fees, local skills initiative. Initially launched in January, the initiative halved the cost of training for 34 high priority qualifications. In July, the program was expanded to include an additional 39 courses slashed by up to 72 per cent to align with the State's immediate economic needs following COVID-19 as part of the new Skills Ready program. The courses with reduced fees are also targeted at job opportunities that relate to capital works initiatives such as the Rebuilding our TAFEs plan.