A regular comment I have heard from members over the years has the been the need for the return of trade or junior technical schools.  These disappeared as higher and vocational education was reformed to encourage more students go to university.

While the old trade school is unlikely to return, there has been a slow unwinding of the government approach of trying to push students towards university regardless of their interests and aptitudes. For example, the Victorian government replaced the old Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) with the VCE Vocational Major to mitigate the alleged stigma of vocational training. The free TAFE policy can also be seen as an acceptance that they got things wrong by pushing university as the solution to everything.

Now we have the Federal Opposition announce its policy to build a new national network of Australian Technical Colleges. This is a welcome policy and complements other announcements to encourage more apprenticeships.

Regardless of the outcome of the Federal election it is desirable that both state and federal governments treat vocational training as worthy as a university degree. Australia needs skilled workers, employers are crying out for them and for many the vocational training system will be as good as, if not better, than university for preparing them to enter the workforce.