As part of the Rebuilding our TAFEs plan, WA Premier Mark McGowan was in Kalgoorlie-Boulder to announce a $10 million funding injection to bolster trades training at Central Regional TAFE (CR TAFE).
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 the local resources industry.
An additional $1 million will be spent on upgrades to an existing workshop at the CR TAFE Kalgoorlie 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 the Premier last week, which will see five Western Australian TAFE colleges significantly upgraded.
As part of the WA Government’s commitment to regional WA, 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 deliver state-of-the-art learning opportunities for students and boost the Western Australian economy by generating jobs.
The new state-of-the-art training facilities will meet demand for more skilled workers in the region by expanding training options and increasing the number of half price courses available, as part of the State Government’s Lower fees, local skills initiative.
Initially launched in January 2020, the initiative halved the cost of training for 34 high priority qualifications. In July 2020, 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.
The courses with reduced fees are also targeted at job opportunities that relate to capital works initiatives such as the Rebuilding our TAFEs plan.
Source: WA Government