TAFE
Technical College is a centre of training excellence, helping the people of the Pacific region achieve Australian-standard skills and qualifications for a wide range of vocational careers. Campus locations include Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Sunshine Coast TAFE, in conjunction with Box Hill Institute of TAFE, manages this project on behalf of AUSAID.
We are also industry leaders as the first TAFE Queensland institute to implement a Reconciliation Action Plan, with a strategy to ease the transition from school to TAFE and increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in VET at Sunshine Coast TAFE. Our commitment has raised our Indigenous student populations to well above the national and state averages. Through support and consultation on academic, personal and career matters, we have increased the completion rate for our Indigenous students and facilitated pathways to higher VET qualifications.
We were also the first Australian educational organisation to be certified carbon neutral and are a member of a community that is passionate about sustainability.
Through reducing electricity consumption, doubling our recycling rates, establishing Australia’ s only Sustainability Discovery Centre and developing new initiatives towards a sustainable future, we have become a source of knowledge in this area and a frontrunner for sustainability in our region.
VET is a sector that all industrialised economies have had to rely on for their advancement; and it is a sector that employs large numbers of highly skilled people.
With 58 TAFE institutes across Australia and the Pacific, TAFE is a brand that has a long history of delivering high quality, reliable products and it has the credentials to prove it. With over 2000 providers in the VET marketplace, quality has become a point of parity, rather than a point of differentiation.
Competition is increasing in the sector. In the past, Sunshine Coast TAFE mainly competed against other local institutions; however“ elsewhere” is now a ready option for our students. They can study online, intra-state, interstate or internationally, with a range of providers, including universities. As educators, we work to create relationships and agreements with other providers to support student choice and movement across sectors, jurisdictions and national boundaries. We understand employers want knowledge and application of skills, not just knowledge. We also recognise the new age requires adaptable workers who can multitask.
We understand learning is an attitude and that Sunshine Coast TAFE graduates are distinguished by this hallmark. Our graduates are destined to be sought after by employers and our partners are helping us deliver on this promise.
Our partnerships define us and deepen our reputations as authorities in our chosen fields. In a world where academia increasingly sits outside our institutions, they ensure our longevity and relevance to new generations of learners.
Millennial students are the largest and most diverse generation of learners, whose education occurs best when situated in an authentic context.
A generation of digital natives, they are determined, driven achievers who depend on technology and their support systems. Through blended delivery, increased mobility and enhanced customisation, TAFE will meet the challenges of the 21st century and refine our knowledge and skills to incorporate students’ goals and motivations and match future learning experiences with collaborative delivery and advanced learning resources.
We look forward to the year ahead and welcome new challenges as we prepare this generation of learners for the new frontier.
See you there. n
Leeza Boyce is director of Sunshine Coast Institute of TAFE.
www. campusreview. com. au Issue 8 2013 | 29