By JESSE GRAHAM
STUDENTS from around the Yarra Valley will have better skills to enter the automotive industry, after $200,000 in parts were donated to Healesville High School earlier today.
Dignitaries from the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC), Mitsubishi Motors and the Victorian Government visited the school today (Wednesday, 20 May) for the official announcement of the donation.
The donation includes 14 pallets of car components, including engines, transmissions, driveline assemblies and a Mitsubishi Lancer, all of which will be used by students at Healesville High School’s Trade Training Centre studying automotive training.
Minister for Training and Skills Steve Herbert said the components would help the students to have up-to-date training on current technology in vehicles, which would help them to get jobs in the industry.
“Even if you don’t go into a career … the skills you learn will go with you all your life,” Mr Herbert said.
“You’ll be fixing your own cars, having more confidence in the things you do around your home.”
Healesville High School principal George Perini said the donation would benefit students from across the valley, as Upper Yarra Secondary College and Worawa Aboriginal College students in Years 10-12 study in the centre through the Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) program.
He said the school had become known in the area for its high level of automotive training.
“People now come to us and say ‘have you got a good, young mechanic?’” Mr Perini said.
Following speeches from the dignitaries, the group toured the school’s Trade Training Centre and spoke with VETiS students while they worked.
The donation was the first through the VACC’s Automotive Industry Donation Program, where companies can donate components and equipment to training providers to use with students.
For the full story on the donation, see next week’s Mail.
