Photo: boxhill.edu.au

The announcement comes as Premier Daniel Andrews joined Minister for Education James Merlino and Minister for Training and Skills Gayle Tierney to open the Labor Government’s latest Tech School, which will cater to almost 14,000 students from 19 secondary schools in the Banyule and Nillumbik areas.

The Banyule-Nillumbik Tech School is the sixth Tech School to open in Victoria as part of the Government’s $128 million investment to establish 10 Tech Schools and make Victoria the Education State.

Located at Melbourne Polytechnic’s Greensborough campus, which was re-opened by the Labor Government in 2016 after the former Liberal Government shut it down, the Banyule-Nillumbik Tech School will help students develop skills in scientific and technical services, healthcare and social assistance, as well as entrepreneurship.

The Government is delivering the largest pipeline of infrastructure projects in Victoria’s history – and we need people to build them. That’s why we’re making 30 priority TAFE courses and 20 pre-apprenticeship courses tuition free to enable more Victorians to get the skills they need for jobs in high demand industries.

The next 10 TAFE courses and two additional pre-apprenticeship courses that will be part of the Free TAFE initiative were revealed today and range from community service courses to construction and cyber security.

The $172 million Free TAFE initiative was announced in the Victorian Budget 2018/19 as part of a $644 million package to strengthen TAFE and apprenticeships and provide 30,000 extra government-subsidised training places.

TAFE institutes across Victoria can take enrolments in 2018 for Free TAFE courses that begin in 2019. For the full list of courses visit freetafe.vic.gov.au.