Mr BURKE - 2006-02-22
During the election campaign, you spoke of your commitment to training and growing our own professionals and tradespeople. The government promised to introduce a bursary scheme for vocational education students. Can you update the House on these bursaries and other measures taken to develop the Territory’s skills base?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Brennan for his question. It is a question of much greater substance than the previous one.
I was always perplexed, in all of those years in opposition, as to why the former government never had something as simple as setting up a teacher bursary scheme. That was an election commitment from us and it has been fulfilled. In fact, there are two election commitments fulfilled with this. In 2001, we promised to provide student teacher bursaries to grow our own teachers through our own university, Charles Darwin University - and each year since 2002 we have put into place 20 of those bursaries at $12 000 each. We now have 42 student teachers receiving bursaries still studying; 26 have completed their teaching studies as students; 20 of those 26 now work in the Territory government school system.
I have just awarded another 20 student bursaries. I had tremendous pleasure at lunchtime meeting one of the young people who received her $12 000 for this year. That is helping young Territorians stay here, commit to the Territory, study here and develop their skills here. It is a successful example of what we talk about when growing our own. When the media said: ‘What does this mean to you?’, she said: ‘I do not have to scrabble around trying to get part-time work, and I will probably be able to insure my car for the next couple of years’. That is what it means for these people.
In 2005, we promised to upgrade the awards given to Vocational Education and Training students. We announced that VET students would be eligible for 40 scholarships at $4000 each for VET studies. I made it clear that some of those would be reserved for students from regions in remote parts of the Territory. The first 13 of those scholarships have now been awarded to VET students from across the Territory and will be awarded further throughout the year. Seven scholarships were awarded to students from Darwin, four from Alice Springs, one from Batchelor and one from Nhulunbuy, about which I am very pleased. I am proud of the recipients of those scholarships and pleased that we are able to help young people with the cost of their study. That will help keep young people coming into the VET study system and will encourage them to stay in the Territory once they have done their studies and training.
Both the bursaries and the scholarships form an important part of a whole range of a package of options and actions that this government takes to develop the skills base of our Territory, because we have managed the budget so well in the past four years, we have the capability to deliver this much-needed and much-appreciated assistance.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Brennan for his question. It is a question of much greater substance than the previous one.
I was always perplexed, in all of those years in opposition, as to why the former government never had something as simple as setting up a teacher bursary scheme. That was an election commitment from us and it has been fulfilled. In fact, there are two election commitments fulfilled with this. In 2001, we promised to provide student teacher bursaries to grow our own teachers through our own university, Charles Darwin University - and each year since 2002 we have put into place 20 of those bursaries at $12 000 each. We now have 42 student teachers receiving bursaries still studying; 26 have completed their teaching studies as students; 20 of those 26 now work in the Territory government school system.
I have just awarded another 20 student bursaries. I had tremendous pleasure at lunchtime meeting one of the young people who received her $12 000 for this year. That is helping young Territorians stay here, commit to the Territory, study here and develop their skills here. It is a successful example of what we talk about when growing our own. When the media said: ‘What does this mean to you?’, she said: ‘I do not have to scrabble around trying to get part-time work, and I will probably be able to insure my car for the next couple of years’. That is what it means for these people.
In 2005, we promised to upgrade the awards given to Vocational Education and Training students. We announced that VET students would be eligible for 40 scholarships at $4000 each for VET studies. I made it clear that some of those would be reserved for students from regions in remote parts of the Territory. The first 13 of those scholarships have now been awarded to VET students from across the Territory and will be awarded further throughout the year. Seven scholarships were awarded to students from Darwin, four from Alice Springs, one from Batchelor and one from Nhulunbuy, about which I am very pleased. I am proud of the recipients of those scholarships and pleased that we are able to help young people with the cost of their study. That will help keep young people coming into the VET study system and will encourage them to stay in the Territory once they have done their studies and training.
Both the bursaries and the scholarships form an important part of a whole range of a package of options and actions that this government takes to develop the skills base of our Territory, because we have managed the budget so well in the past four years, we have the capability to deliver this much-needed and much-appreciated assistance.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016