Federal member for Page Kevin Hogan today officially opened the $1 million Hospitality Trade Skills Centre at Grafton High School – one of six centres under construction across the Northern Rivers.
“It is wonderful to have delivered on this promise. This Hospitality Trade Skills Centre will provide an alternative pathway to employment for students and expand their Vocational Employment and Training opportunities,” he said.
“Employment surveys have found there is a high concentration of Food Service businesses in our community, but also there is a high-degree difficulty in filling chefs’ positions.
“This new centre will help bridge that gap by training students who are ready to take up work in food-related positions.”
The Trade Skills Centre boasts a commercial kitchen to meet the standards for delivery of Certificate II Kitchen Operations qualifications to address an industry sector identified by the Commonwealth Government as experiencing a skills shortage in rural and regional Australia, including the Northern Rivers.
Grafton High School is one of six local schools that are sharing in almost $6 million to establish Trade Skill Centres to give students more study and job options.
The schools are: Grafton High ($1 million) for a new hospitality Trade Skills Centre, Induna School ($550,000) also for a new hospitality Trade Skills Centre, South Grafton High ($1 million) for a new woodworking Trade Skills Centre, Alstonville High ($1 million) for a new Primary Industries Trade Skills Centre, Evans River K-12 Community School ($1 million) to establish a hospitality Trade Skills Centre and, Trinity Catholic College ($1.3 million) for a hospitality Trade Skills Centre.
