Candidate makes college promise

LIBERAL candidate for Holt Emanuele Cicchiello has promised to do his utmost to get one of 100 new Australian Technical Colleges built in the south-east if the Coalition is re-elected.
The school teacher’s comments follow Prime Minister John Howard’s plan to establish 100 new Australian Technical Colleges if the government is re-elected at the 24 November election.
“As a teacher, I welcome this bold plan to boost vocational and technical education opportunities for the seven out of 10 young Australians who do not go directly from school to university,” Mr Cicchiello said.
“I will be fighting to ensure that a new Australian Technical College is established in Melbourne’s south-east for the benefit of local students.”
Of the 100 Australian Technical Colleges, 30 will be new colleges including two specialist Australian Defence Technical Colleges.
A re-elected Howard Government would invest $2.1 billion over 10 years into the plan.
This will include $271 million to 2010-11 to establish the first 19 of these 100 new colleges.
“I will be talking to our local secondary schools to determine their interest in specialising in technical and vocational education by becoming an Australian technical college.
“The new colleges will be industry led, and will have strong links to local businesses to ensure that local students are learning the necessary skills to enable them to get a career in our local industries,” Mr Cicchiello said.