National Trade Cadetships

Media Release, The Hon. Julia Gillard, MP, 20 July 2010; Media Release, The Hon. Christopher Pyne, MP, 20 July 2010

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Minister for Education, Mr Simon Crean, have announced that, if re-elected, the Australian Labor Party would provide $3.1 million over two years to offer National Trade Cadetships for students in years 9 to 12.

Under the proposal, students who were interested in undertaking training options at school would be able to undertake a nationally recognised course that would provide credit to either an apprenticeship or further training.

Student would enrol in either:

• a National Trade Cadetship – Foundation, which would be for students with a general interest in trades and would provide essential work readiness skills and which would lead to further training options or
• a National Trade Cadetship – Pre-Apprentice, which would focus on a specific trade or occupation area which would then lead to an apprenticeship.

The cadetships would be developed by the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority, in conjunction with Industry Skills Councils and state and territory governments. They would be introduced in 2012 and offered in schools which have established Trade Training Centres through the Australian Government’s Trade Training Centres in Schools Program. The cadetships would be open to students from other schools and would be structured to ensure that they were able to contribute towards existing state-based senior secondary qualifications.

Ms Gillard and Mr Crean indicated that the aim of the plan was to better align vocational education with the needs of employers and with post-school training and apprenticeship options, and to provide additional options for school students wanting to undertake vocational education. Ms Gillard stated that ‘the cadetships will ensure students at school who want a career in the trades have a clearly defined pathway, equal in quality, value and rigour to traditional academic pursuits’.  

The Shadow Minister for Education, Mr Christopher Pyne, criticised the policy, claiming that it was ‘a fantasy’ because the Australian Government had only constructed 13 Trade Training Centres to date. He stated that ‘young people who want to take up a training place will have to be lucky enough to go to one of the few schools who actually have access to an operational centre’.

 

 

Back to News Page