TAFE NSW managing director Pam Christie spent part of the day touring the campus and talking with students and teachers.

She spoke about the changing environment TAFE had to operate in and the challenges it met in offering flexible study to fit in with people’s busy lives.

She singled out the relationship Nowra head teacher Di Laver and her team in Tourism and Hospitality had cultivated with a large number of high-end Sydney chefs.

“The support from the names this TAFE gets from the industry is extraordinary,” she said.

She said that was an example that showed TAFE had a focus on training people in industries where there were jobs available.

Ms Christie met John Reminis and Sobhan Leary, both Shoalhaven award winning students from the TAFE Illawarra cohort of 2013.

They told her their inspiring stories and hoped their success would encourage others considering further education to look into what TAFE had to offer.

Ms Christie congratulated TAFE Illawarra for its achievements in providing opportunities for young people in the region. 

“TAFE Illawarra plays an important role in providing a head start for young people,” she said.

“In 2013, the institute offered more than 50 pre-apprenticeship training classes to provide young people with the relevant skills and knowledge required to secure an apprenticeship or traineeship.

“It also offered 49 TVET courses to give young people the option to study a TAFE vocational course while they completed their HSC at school,” Ms Christie said.