The federal government’s Australian Technical Colleges continue to attract criticism over claimed low enrolment levels and insufficient graduate numbers, despite strong support from the business sector.
The federal government’s Australian Technical Colleges continue to attract criticism over claimed low enrolment levels and insufficient graduate numbers, despite strong support from the business sector.
The colleges enable students in years 11 and 12 to undertake a school-based apprenticeship while completing secondary school, and have a governance structure that includes industry representation.
Nationally, 25 colleges will be open by the end of the current financial year, with a further three announced in the recent budget.
Western Australia has two technical colleges: ATC Perth South, which accepted its first intake of students in February and has campuses in Maddington and Armadale; and ATC Pilbara, which is based in Port Hedland and opened in July.
A third college is planned for north-east Perth, after an application led by the Swan Chamber of Commerce and Malaga-based National Corporate Training Pty Ltd was approved last month.
Discussions regarding a fourth college, to be located on the coastal strip near Kwinana, are also taking place.
According to Eurogroup managing director Rod Slater, who chairs the board of ATC Perth South, recent claims that enrolments at the college are below their expected level are unfounded.
Mr Slater said the college’s infrastructure had not been capable of accepting a high volume of students this year, but would be doubling its capacity next year.
The college currently has 70 students, with 150 places available next year and a total of 330 in 2009.
Mr Slater said the ATCs would help to address the skills shortage by fast-tracking the apprenticeship process and providing a model for other schools.
“What we are hoping is that traditional schools will notice what is going on at ATCs and perhaps emulate this in their own schools,” he said.
However, some in the vocational training industry have questioned the practicality of the colleges as a way to bridge the skills gap, suggesting the colleges are a profile-raising exercise to improve trade participation rates.
“Technical colleges have nothing to do with the skills shortage,” one training provider said.
“It’s about regarding apprenticeships in more positive terms – a weapon in the federal government’s industrial relations campaign and a way around the states in delivering skills training.”
Woodside Energy general manager, indigenous affairs and ATC Pilbara chair, Meath Hammond, said the benefits of the program would be more apparent in the longer term.
“If you believe the skills shortage is only going to be with us for a short period of time, then technical colleges are not the solution,” Mr Hammond said.
However, he said there was good support from the business community for ATCs.
“I think industry would prefer to have kids stay to year 11 or 12, so this is a good solution,” Mr Hammond said.
Motor Trade Association of WA chief executive officer Peter Fitzpatrick said the state needed to ensure it produced as many trades people as possible.
“Anything that is going to help us get more people into trades is a good thing,” he told WA Business News.
“There seems to be a lot of local support for (ATCs). They have a reasonable prospect of success, provided there is enough Commonwealth funding.”
If it wins the upcoming federal election, Labor has said it will maintain established colleges, but will transfer their management to state governments and the independent schools sector on a case-by-case basis.
