Rudd focuses on trade training centres in Budget reply

by Kerri Carr

A Labor Government would spend $2.5 billion over 10 years to build new trade training centres and upgrade existing facilities and equipment in all of Australia's government and non government schools, Federal Opposition leader Kevin Rudd announced in his Budget reply speech on May 10.

Labor plans to invest $729 million over the first four years, to 2010-11.

"Each secondary school in Australia will be eligible for capital funding of between $500,000 up to $1.5 million to build trade workshops, computer laboratories and other facilities to expand vocational education and training opportunities," Mr Rudd said.

"Schools can apply to build metal workshops, commercial kitchens, automotive workshops, plumbing workshops, graphic design labs as well as ICT [information communication technology] laboratories. And they can purchase equipment including drills, grinders, wood and metal turning lathes, ovens, soldering and welding equipment and computers.

"The extra recurrent costs for running the new Trade Training Centres will be negotiated between the Commonwealth and the states.

"Labor will also provide $84 million over four years to ensure access to on-the-job training for 20 weeks per year for year 9 to 12 vocational education and trades students," Mr Rudd said.

Federation President Maree O'Halloran said: "Federal Labor's plan to upgrade trade facilities, including computer and science laboratories across schools may be a worthwhile initiative if it comes with a commitment that every public school will have the resources to provide the full breadth and depth of the academic and vocational education curriculum. It is vitally important that schools and students in areas of socio-economic disadvantage are not locked into pathways from year 9."

"The advantage of Kevin Rudd's plan is that it is not piecemeal like the State Labor Government's trade schools," she said.

"However, planning needs to be done at the state level. It is important that duplication and competition with TAFE does not occur," she added.

Ms O'Halloran criticised Labor's policy of providing funding for trade centres in private schools as it opened up "yet another funding source for private schools".

"Private schools are already operating with a far greater level of resources than public schools," she said.

"Public education should be the national priority."

Mr Rudd said Labor had a new national objective to lift year 12 retention rates from 75 per cent to 85 per cent by 2015 and to 90 per cent by 2020.

"In 2006, 540,000 young Australians aged 16-24 were not engaged in either full time learning or work. Access Economics has estimated that if Australia raised its year 12 completion rates to 90 per cent from the 75 per cent it is today, we would add around $9 billion to our economy by the year 2040."

"The tragedy is that there are so many young people of school age -- or immediate post school age -- who would be ideally suited to a career in the trades, who have simply dropped out all together," he also said.

Mr Rudd said he planned to help foster a generation of Asia-literate Australians "increasingly comfortable with the languages and cultures of our region".

He said Labor would re-establish an Asian languages and studies strategy for Australian schools, costing $65 million over four years, done in partnership with the states and territories. (Mr Rudd said in 2002 the Howard Government discontinued funding for the National Asian Languages and Studies in Australian Schools Strategy, which ran from 1996 and had enabled hundreds of thousands of Australian school children to start learning the major languages of our region.)

"If we are going to enable our businesses to take on the best and the brightest in the region and the world we have got to make sure they have all the skills to do so."

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Last Modified: 24 May 2007