Start your career at TAFE
26 November 2003
TAFE institutes offer practical, hands-on courses for people wanting to start or further their career.
TAFE’s nationally-accredited vocational education and training (VET) courses provide the skills employers want, because they are all designed in consultation with the relevant industry bodies.
Since the introduction of VET in Schools around six years ago, secondary students no longer have to wait until they leave school to reap the benefits of vocational education. They can now combine VET subjects with their secondary schooling.
Students can undertake vocational training by attending a Registered Training Organisation such as Kangan Batman TAFE one or two days a week, or their own school may deliver the training. For schools who do not have the necessary teaching expertise or equipment to deliver particular programs, Kangan Batman TAFE is also able to provide specialist teachers to deliver programs on-site in the secondary school.
According to Peter Harrison, Kangan Batman TAFE’s Post-compulsory Education Pathways Manager, VET in Schools has numerous benefits for students.
“VET in the VCE is so popular because it gives students a head start for when they leave school, whether they decide to enter the workforce, go onto further study at TAFE or university, or do an apprenticeship or traineeship,” Mr Harrison said.
“Aside from their VCE and an enhanced ENTER, students receive a nationally-recognised VET qualification and credits towards further courses, reducing the training time of an apprenticeship, traineeship or other TAFE course. Some training providers even offer added incentives. For example, Kangan Batman TAFE has developed a Fast Track one-year Diploma of Hospitality Management for students who have completed the Certificate II in Hospitality through VET in the VCE,” he said.
“Another major advantage of VET in the VCE programs is that they include structured industry work-placements to give students practical, hands-on experience, making them more attractive to employers.”
Kangan Batman TAFE is an expert in the coordination and delivery of VET in Schools programs and in 2003 won the VET in Schools Excellence Award in the Victorian Training Awards for its work with Whittlesea Secondary College.
Kangan Batman TAFE is one of Victoria’s largest providers of VET services to schools, providing training for 4,000 students at 90 Melbourne secondary colleges, from Pakenham to Broadford and Melton.
It also organises suitable work-placements for VET students through the North West Work Education Development Group (WEDG), which is part of Kangan Batman TAFE. The North West WEDG liaises with industry on behalf of secondary colleges to arrange work-placements.
Kangan Batman TAFE’s range of VET services also includes training for School-based New Apprenticeships and running VCAL programs in a range of areas, from multimedia and fashion to building studies. The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is an alternative Year 12 program.
VET in Schools programs are now not limited to VCE students. Students in lower levels of secondary education are able to participate in programs such as Kangan Batman TAFE’s Options for Work and Education Programs and other ‘TAFE Taster’ initiatives, which allow them to gain a taste of possible future careers.
Kangan Batman TAFE also works closely with secondary colleges to improve career information and pathway services for young people, to help with their transition from school to work or further training.
This has included publishing a Pathway Information Guide of services and career information as a resource for those who advise young people, and holding regular career forums for young people, with panels of industry speakers. It also provides Pathway services for several schools.
Kangan Batman TAFE offers short courses, nationally-accredited certificates, diplomas and advanced diplomas, as well as pre-apprenticeship courses, traineeship/apprenticeship training, and VET in Schools programs.
It offers programs in a wide range of areas, such as automotive, aviation, community services, childcare, building and furniture, engineering, fashion and millinery, horticulture, hospitality and tourism, IT, marketing and public relations, office administration, sport and recreation, retail, security and risk management, transport and logistics and many more.
Kangan Batman TAFE has six campuses in Broadmeadows, Moreland, Essendon, Coburg, Avondale Heights, and Richmond.
