Connecting industry with schools and the community and facilitating better job prospects for people across the Latrobe Valley are top of the agenda, Gippsland Tech School’s newly appointed director Paul Boys says.
Mr Boys, who has 20 years’ experience in public and private education, was announced as the school’s inaugural director by the state government last week
The school is under construction at Federation Training’s Morwell campus and will have a core focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects
Mr Boys joins the Federation Training team following a four-year stint as manager at Chisholm Institute’s Bass Coast Wonthaggi campus
He told The Express he was honoured to be given the position and acknowledged the school would provide more employment opportunities for young people across the Latrobe Valley
“Unemployment is one of the big issues and a critical problem that needs to be addressed, so we hope the tech school will address some of these issues through its relationship with industry,” Mr Boys said
“Curriculum will be designed through industry consultation and we believe that will provide the skills young people need to secure work in the Valley.”
Mr Boys has been a Gippsland resident for more than 10 years and was previously a small business operator at Phillip Island before he joined the education sector in 2000
Students from eight secondary schools will have access to the school as part of their regular curriculum with a local industry focus on food and fibre, health, new energy and advanced manufacturing
The school is expected to open in early 2018 while Mr Boys will start in the role on Monday, 21 August.
