VIC: Labor floats plan for TAFE link with high school

AAP General News (Australia)
04-30-1999
VIC: Labor floats plan for TAFE link with high school

MELBOURNE, April 30 AAP - The Victorian ALP today floated a plan for senior high school
students to finish their studies at TAFE institutes, giving them the opportunity to combine
school with a trade apprenticeship.

Opposition leader Steve Bracks said the current two-year Victorian Certificate of Education
(VCE) was more about tertiary entrance scores than developing skills.

He said students not heading for university had no incentive to complete their studies.

The fact that Year Nine and 10 students missed, on average, almost four weeks of school a
year showed that many young people were simply giving up on school.

Mr Bracks said Labor was considering a plan to merge the Board of Studies, which handles
the VCE, and the State Training Board, which oversees apprenticeships and traineeships.

While Labor did not want to re-invent the wheel, allowing Year 11 and 12 students to do
their VCE at TAFE colleges would give students more options.

"One size doesn't fit all," Mr Bracks told a Melbourne Media Club lunch.

"The door to opportunity has been closed. I want to open up that door, I want to make sure
that every student has a pathway, and, more importantly, a choice of pathways."

AAP kmh/ra/ms

KEYWORD: SCHOOLS VIC

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