Interview - ABC Tropical North
ROB KIDD [HOST]: One of the big challenges that parents in regional and rural areas can face is what to do when kids start to look at tertiary studies. Traditionally, kids have had to leave home and head to the city, and that's not always something that they really want to do or even have to do. But a new study hub will allow students to complete higher ed studies and stay in their hometowns. Funding has been announced for Regional University Study Hubs in Clermont and Moranbah, with hopes that they could actually be open by mid-year. Federal Assistant Minister for Education and Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm, here with the ABC’s Jenae Madden.
ANTHONY CHISHOLM [ASSISTANT MINISTER]: What these hubs do is create an environment for people to thrive and learn. The staff who are appointed to run these centres come with good experience, so they've often got a degree themselves. They might be from a teaching background, or they might be from a community background, and they provide great mentorship to those students who are coming in. You've got to remember that a lot of the people studying at these centres are often first in family, so they don't have an experience of studying at a higher education institution. So, that can be quite daunting. So, to have that support and give people the confidence, but also someone to turn to when you need help, these centres provide a remarkable service to those communities and those people who are studying for the first time.
They often have some meeting rooms where you can go and be by yourself and do your online tutorials, do that in private. Then they have some bigger areas where you can study by yourself, but in an environment where there's other people who are dedicated and studying at the same time. And then you'll often have people who are there as part of the workforce, who are there to answer questions or provide support and give people that encouragement they need or answer a question when they need it as well. So, they often operate outside of normal day hours. So, if you are working during the day or you've got caregiving responsibilities during the day and you need a quiet space at night, quite often they're open later into the evening as well. They're in the centre of town, so they're easily accessible and they're providing that service for people to go and study and have that opportunity to do that locally.
JENAE MADDEN [JOURNALIST]: The stats say that half of young people across the country have tertiary education. Meanwhile, those in Clermont and Moranbah, that's only at 16 per cent. Can you talk to us a little bit about this gap?
CHISHOLM: There is no doubt there's a gap between those living in rural and remote locations versus those in the cities when it comes to tertiary study. And it can be the remoteness, it can be the cost, it can be the thought of having to move away from home to study. All those things, I imagine, are factors. By having these centres, it means that you don't have to move away. One of the other tasks that they do is they get out amongst the local high schools and communities and let people know that this service now exists, so that people who might be in Year 11 or 12 or maybe didn't pursue study straight after school, they can go, alright, this is here in my local community, I can stay, live at home, enjoy that support, but study. And as I mentioned, the exciting thing from what I've seen is that a lot of the people who are studying at these centres are studying in the health field, are studying in the education field, and they're exactly the type of workers that we need in these communities. These centres are making a significant contribution already across the country, and I'm confident that these two in Clermont and Moranbah will also do that.
MADDEN: I guess there's a focus on these study hubs, but are there opportunities for jobs in the region later on?
CHISHOLM: Absolutely and the best examples of the centres that I've seen have a good link with local industry, and I'd expect that to be the case here, given the nature of Moranbah and Clermont and what the work is happening there, whether it be in mining or whether it be in renewable energy. There's a wealth of opportunities, and I'd be very confident that these centres, once established, will have a really good industry linkage. We'll also have that when it comes to local high schools, so that we can see those younger people identifying that, yes, I can stay and study locally, and there's a range of jobs that I can go into as a result. That's the perfect example of why these things will be significant contribution.
MADDEN: The Clermont and Moranbah study hubs, they were announced in May. I'm wondering if there's something new, like, has there been additional money given to this? I think it was 2 million initially.
CHISHOLM: So, that was a State Government commitment to building the infrastructure and the State Government announcing they would help build new facilities out of their mining fund that they had. Our announcement today is that we'll support them to establish themselves and give them some operational funds to employ those coordinators.
MADDEN: Okay and what are the figures there?
CHISHOLM: It'll be negotiated between the Federal Government and the proponents. But for instance, it's normally in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it can also include some money if they do need additional money for infrastructure. But that's worked through with the proponents and the Federal Government.
MADDEN: So, is there a baseline that's being committed to or something like that?
CHISHOLM: Well, it's basically support to establish them, and then those negotiations will happen between the Education Department and the proponents.
KIDD: Assistant Minister for Education and Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm there speaking with Jenae Madden.