Santina Schmocker, from TAFE South West’s Nurunderi and Kingaroy campuses with General Manager Trevor Schwenke  

September 5, 2014

TAFE teachers, students and invited guests gathered at the TAFE South West campus in Kingaroy on Thursday to mark the official opening of a new Learning Centre for students.

The specially equipped room will allow students to study in an “inviting area” and access wi-fi for online delivery of courses.

There are also bean bags and a wide-screen TV to allow students space to relax.

It has been developed in an area of the main building that was originally office space, and was then converted into a conference room / videolink area.

The foyer of the admin building and the former library space have also been converted to new uses.

TAFE South West general manager Trevor Schwenke said the message from the changes and the re-branding of the TAFE college was that TAFE was “here to stay”.

“It’s not going anywhere … but it needs you to grow,” he said.

As part of the statewide restructuring of TAFE colleges by the State Government, the training body has been shifted out of the Department of Education into its own statutory authority.

Mr Schwenke said he was part of a Board that now runs TAFE across Queensland. The former separate institutes – which competed against each other – were now regional centres which aimed to act co-operatively, he said.

In another change, TAFE no longer owned the buildings from which it operated.

Mr Schwenke said this was a bonus as staff didn’t have to “worry about fixing the facilities”.

From July 1, delivery of training in Queensland was made “contestable”, which means TAFE has to compete with private providers.

“We want to be the preferred training provider across this region in all areas,” Mr Schwenke said.

He said the new Learning Centre would create more opportunities for local students, including partnering with universities to deliver online courses.

He said 2396 unique students had enrolled at the Kingaroy campus over the past 12 months, out of 24,000 across the the TAFE South West region.

Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said she wanted the community to “embrace” the new facility .

“TAFE is not shutting down,” she said.

Related articles:

Carl Rackemann, from the South Burnett Relay for Life, presented certificates to students who helped at the recent Captains Dinner … he is pictured with TAFE South West business analyst Simon Neal, Executive Director of Studies Jenni Butler and hospitality teacher Jason Ford

South Burnett Regional Council Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell with Debbie Jackson, from TAFE South West in Kingaroy

Lori Jones – who was recently nominated for an Austafe Award – and Resources & Infrastructure administrator Gail Schumacher
Cr Damien Tessmann with Darren Kefford, from Kingaroy Joinery which did much of the work in the learning space, and Kingaroy businessman Ken Mills

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