$2bn to Revive Technical Tolleges

JOHN Howard has promised to spend $2.1 billion building 100 new technical and trades-training colleges, sharpening his re-election pitch by linking the training to his pursuit of a 3 per cent unemployment rate. The Prime Minister yesterday promised to build 30 colleges and offer 70 schools - public or private - grants of up to $10 million to establish more colleges on existing campuses.

Speaking after opening an Australian Technical College at Ferntree Gully, in Melbourne's east, Mr Howard said Australian governments had made a mistake three decades ago when they scrapped technical high schools and that he wanted to "restore a good system in a modern form".

"All of this is designed to bring back an Australian education system where at a certain point in a young man or a young woman's education, a decision is made to go down the path of a technical education," Mr Howard said. "I want an Australia where a technical qualification is as prized an asset as a university degree." But despite Mr Howard's confidence, he came
under attack from federal Labor and state education ministers, who said the nation's 24 existing Australian Technical Colleges were failures.

They were designed to be an alternative to state government-funded TAFE colleges. The Coalition has delivered 21 colleges with another seven nearing completion and its expansion plan would fund 10 new colleges a year for the next decade. Mr Howard rejected Labor's proposal to provide trades training in each high school, saying he preferred the
concept of dedicated trade schools. (SOURCE/EXTRACT: The Australian, 30.10.07)