Australian government allocates $209.8m on new trade training centers

The Australian government on Wednesday announced to spend 209.8 million AU dollars (190.9 million U.S. dollars) for 137 new Trade Training Centers across the country, a government press release said. This investment is part of the government's 2.5 billion AU dollar (2.27 billion U.S. dollar) ten-year Trade Training Centers in Schools program, which aims to ensure all Australian students are given every opportunity to secure high-skill, high wage jobs. The announcement was jointly made by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Minister for Education Bill Shorten on Wednesday. As a result, thousands of students in 225 schools across Australia will benefit from new training opportunities in 137 new Trade Training Centers. Trade Training Centers in schools will address skill shortages in traditional trades and emerging industries by equipping schools with the state-of-the-art industry standard facilities they need. Students can learn skills such as, carpentry and joinery, metal fabrication, agriculture and horticulture. Of the 225 schools, 122 are servicing regional and remote communities in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia. Federal government has now announced funding of over 1.4 billion (1.27 billion U.S. dollars) for more than 510 Trade Training Centers, benefiting more than 1,290 secondary schools across Australia. Over 60 percent of these schools are located in regional Australia.