TAFE training will join university education at Moreton Bay Central with construction on a $60 million centre due to start this year.
A TAFE centre and advanced manufacturing hub is to join a University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Moreton Bay campus on-site at Petrie.
Moreton Bay City Mayor Peter Flannery says council gave the land for the hub to the state government, which it had bought in 2015.
“We’ve been able to achieve what we said we would which was to provide world-class education and job opportunities that support the City’s continual economic development and growth,” he says.
Click here for more about Moreton Bay Central
“Since the university opened in 2020, the City invested more than $1.1m into the successful scholarships and bursary program and recently confirmed the continuation of this partnership.”
And he says this spending is delivering “outstanding” community outcomes.
“Despite the City historically recording higher-than-average dropout rates, recipients now achieve a 95% completion rate,” he says.
“With 38.5% of recipients the first in their family to attend university, the program clearly demonstrates Council’s leadership in breaking down barriers and creating lasting opportunity.”
Flannery says that while once 90% of Moreton Bay students face daily commutes of up to three hours to attend university, they can now attend class close to home with UniSC campuses at Petrie and Caboolture.
“Now 70% of students enrolled at the Moreton Bay campus are Moreton Bay residents,” he says.
TAFE BOOSTS ACCESS
Flannery said the City’s spending on both university and vocational education will help resident can access education that suits them.
“Council’s approach to higher education accessibility combines local campus delivery with meaningful financial support so no one gets left behind regardless of their geographical and socio-economic status,” he says.
The new TAFE centre will be funded by the Queensland Government which is funding another $78m hub at Caloundra.
The state government is spending $201m to build four TAFE centres across the state; others will be built at Rockhampton and Southern Moreton Bay Islands.
