24-July-2008
Goldstein Media Releases, Education and Training
In a blow to every student in Goldstein, Kevin Rudd has broken his promise to put a trades training centre in every Australian secondary school.
To add insult to injury not a single trades training centre has been announced in the first round of funding within reach of Goldstein students.
Federal Member for Goldstein, Andrew Robb MP, also said because the funding offered to each school was so limited, schools were having to cluster together to build anything that resembled a trades training ‘centre’.
“This means at best, there will never be a trades training centre in every school in Goldstein as Kevin Rudd explicitly promised last year,” Mr Robb said.
“Kevin Rudd promised a trades training centre in all of Australia’s 2650 secondary level schools and yet yesterday, after eight months, the Rudd Government announced funding for centres is just 34 schools or 1.3 per cent of total schools.”
“The funding is so paltry for schools it will barely update a woodwork room at best - not create anything that resembles a specialised ‘centre’.”
Mr Robb said the former Coalition Government spent on average $24 million on each Australian Technical College while the Rudd Government was offering each school on average just $900,000 over 10 years to build a ‘centre’.
“This policy is a cruel hoax that won’t do anything to encourage more apprentices or address the skills crisis,” said Mr Robb.
“The Rudd Government’s idea of creating a trades training centre is to turn up at each school with a new sign to rename the metalwork room the metalwork ‘centre’.”
“To provide proper trades training, students need dedicated, properly funded Australian Technical Colleges which have scale, local industry input and expert trades teachers.”
Mr Robb said Kevin Rudd had failed to deliver on giving every upper secondary school student their own computer and now he’s failed to deliver on giving every school its own trades training centre.
“So much for an education revolution and solutions to the skills crisis,” Mr Robb said.