Hills students in Victoria will no longer have to travel off the mountain for further education, following the recent opening of the first local independent TAFE college in Australia, located in Emerald.
Previously, students were forced to travel to either Box Hill or Dandenong for training, but this has now changed.
The Australian College of Youth Training (ACYT) has strived to bridge the gap for those who have left secondary college without completing VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education) or an apprenticeship or traineeship.
The opening of the campus will be welcome news for local teenagers, who have had to travel for half an hour or more to access training courses.
College director, Wayne Collins, said it was important to provide students with the opportunity to obtain nationally accredited TAFE certificates somewhere close to home.
“A big thing for kids is transport. It’s a big job for a kid to get up and get the bus to Box Hill or Dandenong,” said Collins.
The Emerald campus is offering Certificate I in Vocational Education, but there are plans to expand its curriculum.
Mr Collins said the instutition would offer Certificate IV courses in youth work and children’s work next year.
Future courses also include pre-apprenticeships in hairdressing, motor mechanics and building trades.
The ACYT campus was an initiative of Echo Youth Ministries, an agency based in Emerald that regularly works with over 450 young people. Emerald Secondary College students were the first to take up training at the college when it opened three weeks ago.
Mr Collins said the college was a great stepping stone for young people ill-suited to mainstream schooling, particularly those lacking in confidence.
“If they’re not settling well in Year 9, instead of getting suspended there’s a productive option for them,” he said.
