Local men out of work offered chance to re-skill themselves
Wednesday March 25, 2009
Greg Jones and Geoff Little were among the locals who attended a TAFE information session last week with TAFE Outreach’s Louise Norton and Mark Hawkins to discuss the possibility of holding retraining courses for local men who have found themselves out of work.
The Western Institute of TAFE’s Outreach Service has identified Cobar as an area which could benefit from a special program for out of work men.
An information session was held last Thursday to gauge interest from locals in attending training courses in a wide range of areas.
TAFE Outreach coordinator Louise Norton said it was a successful session, with around eight locals attending and further interest from people who couldn’t attend the session.
“A program will be starting early next month, beginning with a White Card (OH&S) course,” she said.
“We are also hoping to run a chainsaw course if we can get hold of a teacher,” Ms Norton said.
Other courses which may be held include first aid, responsible service of alcohol and responsible conduct of gambling, and computer training.
“Ideally the men who are part of the program will be doing all the courses, but obviously some may already have, for example, current first aid, so they wouldn’t do that course,” Ms Norton said.
The course is being offered through TAFE’s outreach section, which addresses particular needs in the community.
“We identified Cobar as having a number of men in the community not working, whether that be from losing their job at a mine or whatever,” Ms Norton said.
“In conjunction with the local campus of TAFE, we decided to come out and see what skills are needed, and what the men already have.
“It’s all done on a needs basis,” Ms Norton said.
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