The State Government has announced that a new Mining and Engineering Centre will be built at Regency Park, supported by an allocation of $38.3 million in the 2012 State Budget.
The Mining and Engineering Centre is designed to provide South Australia with a centre for training excellence support the growth of the mining, engineering, advanced manufacturing, transport and defence industries.
Treasurer Jack Snelling said the Government had invested this money because South Australia faced significant skill shortages in these areas with approximately 25,000 – 30,000 vacancies anticipated in the transport and engineering sectors within the next five years.
“The Mining and Engineering Industry Training Centre at Regency Park will consolidate and integrate programs previously delivered across the TAFE SA network,” Mr Snelling said.
This is great news for TAFE SA and comes at a time when the State’s finances are under great pressure. It builds on the already announced Sustainable Industries Training Centre (SIEC) at Tonsley Park and other TAFE SA infrastructure projects.
The new centre will result in the closure of the Croydon Campus and the relocation of the following programs to Regency
- Geo Science and Land Information Management Systems from O’Halloran Hill
- Mechanical and Civil Engineering from Panorama
- Heavy Vehicle Transport and Diesel Mechanics from O’Halloran Hill
- Automotive and Light Vehicle Transport from Croydon
Employment, Higher Education and Skills Minister Tom Kenyon said together these programs currently account for about 3000 students (full time and part time) a year.
“It’s anticipated that this number will increase significantly as the employment market expands and the new centre becomes fully operational. Programs expecting major growth include heavy vehicle and diesel mechanics, mechanical and civil engineering and geoscience and land information management systems,” Mr Kenyon said.
See more about: