The number of young Brimbank students taking up vocational education and training has more than tripled since 2008.
Five schools in the area have upgraded or built new specialist training centres over the past few years, with the latest opening at Victoria University Secondary College just two weeks ago.
Already, 1757 Brimbank students have enrolled for next year’s trade training opportunities, up from 569 this year, and the highest take-up rate in the state.
Benjamin Kolesnik, a 16-year-old student at the newly opened training centre at Cairnlea, said he hoped the building and construction course would help him find an apprenticeship more quickly.
“Usually when people start their apprenticeship, they don’t know anything. This way, you know a bit – you don’t know everything, but it helps,” he said.
“I was interested in doing construction in the future, so I did it as a sort of taster.”
West Trade Training Centre
Victoria University Secondary College’s newly opened training centre is the final piece of the West Trade Training Centre, which opened on October 26 – a $12.9 million dollar project of the former federal Labor government that was almost canned under Tony Abbott.
The centre is a partnership of 10 schools, hosted at five schools in the Brimbank area – Victoria University Secondary College, Footscray City College, St Albans Secondary College, Sunshine College and Caroline Chisholm Catholic College. Students can choose from 12 different VET subjects at the training centres, including hairdressing, hospitality, carpentry and bricklaying.
The Western Metropolitan region, which includes Brimbank, is the fastest growing area in the state for VET enrolments.
Overall, there were an extra 48,460 students studying in 2014 compared with 2008.
The 130 per cent increase is far ahead of the next closest contender.
The Southern Metropolitan region trade training centres have recorded an 80 per cent increase in students, or an extra 44,970.
By Samantha Walker
