Education in Geelong: From Gordon TAFE to Deakin University

Geelong's education system, spanning the full spectrum from the early childhood education of the kindergartens through the secondary schooling of the government and the independent schools to the vocational education of Gordon TAFE and the higher education of Deakin University, provides the complete local education pathway that allows the Geelong student to progress from early childhood to postgraduate qualification without leaving the city. This education self-sufficiency, rare among Australian regional cities of Geelong's size, sustains the population retention that allows young Geelong residents to pursue the education and the early career that would previously have required the move to Melbourne that has historically drawn the talented young people from the regional cities toward the metropolitan opportunities.

Gordon TAFE, the largest vocational education provider in the Geelong and the Surf Coast region, delivers the trades training, the business programs, and the creative industries qualifications that the Geelong economy's diverse workforce requirements demand. The trades training at Gordon's purpose-built Geelong City Campus, including the automotive, the construction, and the electrical programs that train the tradespeople for the building industry and the automotive service sector that the Geelong economy requires, provides the practical skills formation that the regional economy depends on for the qualified tradespeople whose skills the construction boom and the industrial maintenance operations demand. The training workshop facilities and the industry partnerships that Gordon TAFE maintains with the local employers create the vocational training that is relevant to the specific technical requirements of the Geelong employment market.

The independent school sector in Geelong, represented by the Geelong Grammar School, The Geelong College, Clonard College, St Joseph's College, and the other independent schools that the Geelong families whose education values and financial capacity sustain the independent sector with, provide the educational alternatives to the government school system that the diverse community preference in Geelong as a substantial regional city with the full range of the community aspirations supports. The boarding school tradition at Geelong Grammar, drawing the students from the Victorian rural families and the international student market that the school's international reputation attracts, sustains the residential education institution that the Toorak campus and the Corio campus of Geelong Grammar serve for the boarding community.

The STEM education infrastructure at Geelong's schools, including the innovation hubs and the technology facilities that the government has funded in the state schools through the STEM programs and that the independent schools have invested in through their own capital programs, reflects the alignment between the education system and the advanced manufacturing and technology economy that Geelong is developing as the Ford and the automotive industries' departure creates the opportunity for the STEM-intensive industries to occupy the site and the workforce that the manufacturing heritage created. The pipeline from the STEM education programs in Geelong's schools through the Deakin engineering and technology degrees to the advanced manufacturing careers in the Geelong economy creates the local workforce development pathway that the Geelong economy's transformation requires.

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