Features inside
Western Port
THE MEANING OF
EXISTENCE
WELCOME TO SOMERVILLE
(AND OTHER SHORT STORIES)
PAGES 44–48 SPRING HOMEMAKER
PAGES 50–51
STUART McCULLOUGH
SPORTS DESK
PAGES 58–60
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VCAL pain at college
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Emily McCulloch Childs talks to Torres Strait Islander artists at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair earlier this year. On Melbourne Cup weekend an indigenous art show assembled by Ms McCulloch and her mother Susan McCulloch opens at Coolart Homestead in Somers. Details Page 4.
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By Mike Hast WESTERN Port Secondary College has lost thousands of dollars from its Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning program. The Baillieu Coalition government cut $48 million from the statewide program last month, setting up a fight with teachers, principals and parents. VCAL is a hands-on secondary qualification for year 11 and 12 students who will take up apprenticeships, go to a TAFE or get a job, rather than go to university. It is an alternative to the VCE, and students focus on practical work experience and employment skills. They spend one day each week on work placement and organising this takes a lot of time and resources. The government cuts have targeted the salaries of the people who organise and supervise work placements. Many VCAL students come from disadvantaged families and the program plays an important role at the college in Hastings. It provides a pathway for students who struggle with academic subjects and are at risk of leaving school early. On Monday, Hastings MP Neale Burgess told The News he would not accept the cuts to VCAL. “I’ve organised a meeting with principals from the three colleges affected in my area – Western Port, Somerville
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and Elisabeth Murdoch – this week,” he said. Mr Burgess said he had invited officials from the Department of Education, Employment and Training, and “I want them to provide a solution” to the funding cuts. “My electorate has the largest number of qualified tradespeople in the state. The VCAL is vital to this area.” Also working behind the scenes are senior teachers at Western Port Secondary College. It is believed deputy leader of the Opposition and shadow minister for education Rob Hulls met college teachers last week. Western Port’s assistant principal Michael Devine said “targeted initiatives funding in the school’s student resource package will reduce by over $60,000, about 25 per cent, in 2012 due to the removal of VCAL coordination funding”. He said there were 15 VCAL students in year 12 and 23 in year 11 out of 170 students. “The cuts will have a significant effect; they reduce the hours for VCAL coordination and we just can’t take money from other areas,” he said. “Because VCAL is not a set course like the VCE [Victorian Certificate of Education], you need to closely manage the students. Continued on Page 7
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