The brand-new Armadale TAFE was officially opened last Thursday morning by Premier Roger Cook and Minister for Training Simone McGurk.
The $39 million facility on the corner of Church Avenue and Whitehead Street has been delivered on budget and ahead of time – not a common occurrence for major public infrastructure projects.
“This has been something that has been much needed in this community for a long time,” Member for Armadale Dr Tony Buti said, who has been lobbying for the new TAFE for over a decade.
“It’s a great moment and a great time for Armadale.”
Students are already settling into the new facility, with many in their fifth week of courses.
One of those students is Caitlyn Graham, who is studying her Cert III in Early Childhood Education.
As the mother of a young daughter, Caitlyn’s only study option before the Armadale TAFE campus opened was an online course.
“Everything else was too far away for me,” she said.
“And I probably would have struggled doing this online. I feel so supported here, and I’m really enjoying learning.”
The new Armadale campus offers state-of-the-art simulated childcare facilities for early learning education and a creche for parents wanting to reskill or re-enter the workforce.
It is also kitted out with specialist training areas for information technology and emerging industries, and classrooms and computer laboratories for business and general education courses.
The new building also has a Jobs and Skills Centre, with staff available to provide practical one-on-one advice about training and employment opportunities.
Interest in the TAFE’s offerings is swelling, with Minister McGurk saying there’d recently been a sharp rise in local enrolments.
“Students are already voting with their feet. The number of enrolments this year are 30 percent higher than this time last year,” she said.
“And two thirds of fee-free courses are being taken up by women, which is really important because that’s an area where we need to get more participation if we’re going to meet the skills demands that we know are here now.”
Ms McGurk said the government’s focus on building new facilities in strategic areas, and offering fee-free or low-fee places, was responsible for the state’s record boom in new vocational education students.
The Examiner asked why it had taken over two decades for successive governments to address the need for a new TAFE in Armadale.
Ms McGurk said building new facilities in ‘strategic’ areas had become a priority when the Labor government came into power in 2017. She said the definition of strategic was not limited to geography, but also skills shortages, with new campuses and workshops recently opening in the Pilbara, the Goldfields and in Albany offering training in the automotive industry, construction, engineering, electrical and plumbing.
City of Armadale Mayor Ruth Butterfield said “proving the case” for a new single-campus TAFE facility in Armadale to replace the smattering of buildings dotted across the CBD was the key to success in the decades-long campaign.
“Perhaps the numbers didn’t stack up in the past, but recent population growth has been so great that it could no longer be put to the side,” she said.
“It’s been a long time coming, and we’re so proud and happy to have it here. I think it’s a game-changer for education in Armadale.
“Nothing has been spared. And everyone involved with this facility is just so pleased with it.”
It’s not only a game-changer for students, but potentially for businesses in the city centre too, she said.
“I think it will be wonderful for the Armadale CBD, because it brings young people to the city centre – young people who are getting an education and are here for a reason,” she said.
And there are more plans to grow the potential of the city’s heart. Last month, the City of Armadale submitted its pitch to have one of the federal government’s new Suburban University Study Hubs built here.
“We’re crossing everything – our fingers and toes,” Mayor Butterfield said.
“It would really be a coming of age for Armadale, I think, for students to not have to move out of home, or leave the area, to access a range of tertiary courses.”
The Examiner asked if all this would be enough to change community perception about the Armadale CBD.
“It’s not just one thing that will change the perception,” Mayor Butterfield said.
“But the city centre is undergoing transformational change at the moment.
“And I have real hope for the future that Armadale will be seen by people who come here as the beautiful and wonderful place that it really is.”
