Apprentice tradies honing their construction craft at TAFE NSW Kingscliff will benefit from a new covered outdoor learning area, which will allow them to undertake practical lessons rain, hail, or shine.
Member for Tweed Geoff Provest said the NSW Government has invested $310,000 to build the new facility which will help train a pipeline of skilled, job-ready workers for the construction industry.
“With demand for carpenters in the Northern Rivers increasing by 9 per cent over the next five years, this investment in TAFE NSW Wauchope is critical for ensuring local students can complete their training – regardless of the weather,” Mr Provest said.
“This new covered outdoor learning area allows students to build full-sized buildings, complete with scaffolding, which simulate a construction site environment. It will also enable them to complete working at heights training.”
“The facility will significantly increase TAFE’s capacity to train local carpenters which will help grow our economy and secure a brighter future for the Northern Rivers.”
The facility forms part of the NSW Government’s $6 million investment in 16 new covered outdoor learning areas across the state, designed to increase TAFE NSW’s capacity to train new apprentices with in-demand skills.
Minister for Skills and Training Alister Henskens said the new learning space will speed up training for carpentry apprentices by reducing the number of training days lost to inclement weather.
“The NSW Government is delivering more opportunities than ever before to help people get the skills they need for the jobs they want,” Mr Henskens said.
“Our record investment in TAFE NSW will accelerate the skills-led recovery, which has already delivered hundreds-of-thousands of fee-free training places and contributed to low unemployment rates.”
For more information about courses available at TAFE NSW in the Northern Rivers, visit www.tafensw.edu.au.