In today’s talking points: The Yarra Ranges Tech School (YRTS) is the first of 10 tech schools being built in Victoria;Boosting Australian exports, international student numbers have risen by 14 per cent this year; PricewaterhouseCoopers has employing year 12 students as accountants straight out of school; HSC students will begin learning about pre-1788 Aboriginal history.
Melbourne’s First Tech School Offers Real World Learning Experiences
Simulating a real work environment, students leave behind their identities as school children for the chance to contribute, innovate and learn as employees. The Yarra Ranges Tech School (YRTS) is the first of 10 tech schools being built in Victoria. This new education opportunity is open to year 8 to 10 students with a keen interest for Engineering, software development, coding and learning how to become a business leaders. The school’s partnership allows students to work with unrivalled facilities such as robotics, 3D printing, simulation and virtual reality rooms with Oculus Rift headsets and overall gaining transformative skills. Set up in design teams students are provided with project briefs aiming to meet client and stakeholder needs. This program allows adolescents to be treated with adult freedoms and exposing them to the fundamentals of the everyday workforce environment.
Read more at educationhq.com
International Student Numbers Surge
Boosting Australian exports, international student numbers have risen by 14 per cent this year with 111, 000 student visa applications received compared to the 94,000 in 2016. The federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham confirms this high demand of foreign students choosing Australia is set to set a record year for international education. Now Australia’s third largest export, statistics issued display education revenue up 18.2 per cent, accumulating $22.4 billion in the last 12 months to March. With overseas student learning proceeding 1 million last year alone, 2017 is exacting strong growth.
Read more at www.afr.com
The Finance Company That Doesn’t Require A Degree
In a bid to lower student debt levels and provide more opportunities for disadvantaged students, PricewaterhouseCoopers has is now employing year 12 students as accountants and risk management consultants straight out of school. As other companies ponder this movement, PwC’s program believes that the future of work is changing and they are looking to the hire the skills of the future, not the degrees of the future. With the PwC program working successfully in the UK for more than a decade, the Australian government and industry aims to push ‘future-proof’ jobs against expected changes to the economy.
Read more at SMH
Does Australia Have An Ancient History? Students Partake In New Curriculum
The Aboriginal Australians have been recognized in the constitution for years, but they are largely unspoken about in Australian schools. Starting from next year, HSC students will begin learning about pre-1788 Aboriginal history. The unit “Ancient Australia” will be added to the syllabus along with ancient artifacts and site investigation by students in their local area. Senior curriculum officer at the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) Emmanuel Karayiannis stated that it is important for students to understand that we do have an ancient history in Australia preceding 1788. NSW Aborginal Education Consultative Group has developed a new teaching resource which has been used in schools to address gaps in knowledge and misconceptions.
Read more at SMH