Southern Loddon Mallee Regional Strategic Plan 1 - Macedon ...

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strategic direction 5 improve education and training outcomes our objectives: We will improve our education and training standards by: • Improving school completion rates and participation in post-secondary education or vocational training. • Ensuring access to high quality education and training opportunities which provide pathways to employment. • Establishing Bendigo as a centre of excellence for post-secondary education. • Building a skilled and adaptable workforce. • Exceeding the Victorian higher education targets (40% of 24-35 year olds have a bachelor degree or equivalent by 2025, and 20% of higher education enrolments are students from low socio-economic backgrounds by 2020). 30 Southern Loddon Mallee Regional Strategic Plan
Basis for action: Tertiary education facilities such as La Trobe and Monash Universities in Bendigo offer an alternative to studying in Melbourne. Increasing tertiary enrolments will contribute to the region’s economy, as well as attract new people and potentially retain a skilled workforce and younger people to settle in the region. A current inhibitor to increasing tertiary participation is the lack of student accommodation in Bendigo, the establishment of which is a key priority. Beyond this, further development and investment in university programs and facilities will be required to drive provision, participation and growth in tertiary education in the region, particularly with deregulation in 2012. Education and training opportunities Whole of life education and training is critical to overall health and well-being. It also creates opportunity through increased access to employment for individuals and helps to address regional skill shortages and assists in strengthening and diversifying the economy. The process begins with quality early childhood education and care, which improves school readiness and provides longer term benefits for health and quality of life, particularly among disadvantaged children. Our region has an extensive network of schools and kindergartens which provide quality education and forms a key part of our social infrastructure. The low population density and dispersed pattern of settlement in the north-west of the region provides challenges for the provision of education. However, even quite small towns and farming districts are served by local primary schools and, in many cases, by secondary colleges. In smaller towns with both facilities, there is a growing trend for schools to combine into a single Prep - Year 12 campus. Rates of university participation and other education across Victoria Metropolitan Non-metropolitan Eastern Northern Southern Western Barwon- South West The region has an extensive network of schools and kindergartens which provide quality education to its young people and form key parts of the region’s social infrastructure. The region is served by three major post-secondary education providers, La Trobe University, Monash University and the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE (BRiT). La Trobe University’s second largest campus is in Bendigo, from which the university faculties serve over 4,000 local and international students across a broad range of course and subjects areas. Monash University’s School of Rural Health also operates in Bendigo and works with Bendigo Health and other regional healthcare providers to offer clinical training opportunities. BRiT has campuses in Castlemaine, Kyneton, Maryborough and Echuca. Retention rates Reported rate of school retention within the whole (northern and southern) Loddon Mallee region is 72% for Year 7-12 students compared to the metropolitan average of 86%. This gap in school retention rates exists for all regional areas. Similarly, fewer Year 12 completers enter tertiary education or training in all nonmetropolitan regions than in Melbourne. A higher proportion of students undertaking tertiary studies in the Loddon Mallee region attend university than in some metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions, although the rate is lower than in Grampians and Barwon- South West. Gippsland Grampians Hume Loddon Mallee University 77.1 65.1 73.6 67.1 74.3 63.4 74.8 65.0 69.3 71.7 VET IV+ 19.4 28.8 21.0 26.4 18.0 24.2 17.4 23.0 19.2 22.4 VET Entry level % Y12 in tertiary study1 3.6 6.2 5.4 6.5 7.7 12.4 7.5 12.0 11.5 6.0 Victoria 73.6 69.1 67.9 73.8 45.4 44.2 45.8 37.9 45.6 64.0 1. % of Year 12 completers in classroom based tertiary study. Source: DEECD 2009 Our region has high quality education and training infrastructure, partly as a result of recent investment by the Commonwealth and State Governments. The former Australian Technical College (now part of BRiT) and several new secondary colleges and primary schools provide strong school, post-secondary education and vocational training, which are critical to our region’s success in attracting and retaining young people. On-going investment is required to ensure that facilities remain relevant to the needs of growing communities, regional industry, as well as adapting to changing technology for delivery of education and training. Significant opportunities exist to better target our skills shortages and employment needs, particularly through vocational training. The growth of La Trobe and Monash Universities, as well as BRiT and other post-secondary education providers should be strongly supported. Provision of addition student housing is also fundamental to attracting and retaining students to our region. School completion contributes to broader opportunities later in life and enables people to take advantage of future workforce trends including the increasing number of jobs requiring post secondary qualifications. As well, it is important to develop education models that enable educators to build a positive, culturally appropriate learning environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Increased investment is needed to provide a strengthened presence of the tertiary education sector which closely responds to regional skills shortages. Achieving higher school completion rates and encouraging increased participation in post-secondary education or vocational training are critical to increasing workforce participation and improving standards of living, particularly for disadvantaged groups. It is also essential if the region is to address its skills shortages and take advantage of economic development opportunities. Southern Loddon Mallee Regional Strategic Plan 31
Page 1 and 2: Southern Loddon Mallee Regional Str
Page 3 and 4: contents About this Plan 4 Location
Page 5 and 6: STRaTegy 1: Manage our population g
Page 7 and 8: A snapshot of the Southern Loddon M
Page 9 and 10: our people The strong and widely ac
Page 11 and 12: Strategic Direction 1 - Manage our
Page 13 and 14: Basis for action: The projected gro
Page 15 and 16: MaNage OuR POPuLaTION gROwTh aND Se
Page 17 and 18: Basis for action: Our region has ma
Page 19 and 20: STReNgTheN OuR COMMuNITIeS, eSPeCIa
Page 21 and 22: Basis for action: Overall, the regi
Page 23 and 24: STReNgTheN aND DIveRSIfy OuR eCONOM
Page 25 and 26: Basis for action: As our population
Page 27 and 28: IMPROve OuR INfRaSTRuCTuRe Telecomm
Page 29: IMPROve OuR INfRaSTRuCTuRe Southern
Page 33 and 34: IMPROve eDuCaTION aND TRaININg OuTC
Page 35 and 36: Basis for action: Our region’s na
Page 37 and 38: Working together to implement the p
Page 39 and 40: eferences Australian Bureau of Stat

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