Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his intervention. I certainly agree that the Investing in Our Schools Program, which ran out before the 2007 election, was an important component and that is why I have addressed my comments tonight in a very nonpartisan manner: because I am actually recognising that both sides of the chamber understand the importance of capital and the environment we provide for young people in our schools. My complaint tonight is that I do not know that the national media, in commenting on these issues, absolutely understand why that is so important, as the honourable member says.

I also want to take the opportunity, because sometimes the vocational education sector slips through the gaps and does not get the attention it deserves, to acknowledge that my own local TAFE last week were successful under the infrastructure program set up under the higher education fund for TAFEs in getting a project up that is going to upgrade the Illawarra Institute’s mechanical engineering, manufacturing and environmental technology training services from a model based on large-scale driven training for discrete training areas—that is, the old industrial model where all the workers were lined up on a factory floor on their particular machines; which does not happen in many workplaces now—to one which anticipates customer needs by working with customers to develop workforce capability through customised, flexibly delivered training attuned to the needs of specific enterprises. To put that in layman’s terms, the TAFE engineering section is going to be restructured to module based problem-solving units where the young people will work in teams to design a particular solution to an engineering problem. They will be able to build the prototypes on computer based systems. They will be able to take that, transfer it to a production unit and to actually find a solution—and then take it to another section and test it and see how it goes. That is something which reflects much more the modern workplace rather than the mass production of hundreds of people lined up on a factory floor all doing one section of a job and passing it along.

I visited the TAFE the other day. I am a bit biased, having taught there for seven years: I think TAFE is an absolutely fabulous world-class institution that this country, sometimes, at its own peril, undervalues. They were extremely excited by this $9.8 million available to them to upgrade their facilities. This is another example where the physical environment in an education situation supports the curriculum—supports a modern, meaningful education being experienced by young people—and also enables teachers to stretch their wings and be excited themselves by what they are delivering in terms of education. I know the TAFE engineering facility is a microcosm of how our manufacturing base is changing from mass production to really specialised problem-solving solutions.

Our young people will now walk into a TAFE that reflects the modern workplace and reflects the challenges they will face in the modern workplace. When I walked through the doors to make the announcement it was a bit like the old metalwork and woodwork room—you walk in there and you feel like you are stepping back 50 years in time. They just look like you know they have looked like for all the years since they were first built. It was very exciting for them and very exciting for me—in a region like mine which relies on manufacturing modernising to meet modern needs—to see that investment and to see the enthusiasm of those young people as they undertake their training. I just want to say: Barack Obama sought $16 billion for his capital investment in education. He got $12 billion. We have got more than that with far fewer students and institutions. I think that is a great outcome.

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