GAGAL’s The BEST Centre in Biloela

30-Nov-2010

The BEST Centre has been years in the planning and in August this year the fundamentals of the center were completed. Two sheds were constructed in Raedon Street by Wietalaba Holdings on behalf of GAGAL. The money for the buildings came from a $1.5 Million dollar grant given by the Labor Federal Government plus a further $1 Million only recently announced, to fit it out.

The purpose of the centre is to provide training to engineering apprentices in the Callide Dawson Valley. Currently ALL apprentices are required to travel to either Rockhampton, Gladstone, Mackay or Brisbane to access compulsory off the job training. The BEST Centre will also be available for high school students and existing workers who wish to upskill.

All workshops rely on live work from industry, the public and community organisations. This provides the best training possible as apprentices learn to manufacture to a quality standard in a commercial time frame. Work is sourced by working with local industry to take on any work that they are unable or unwilling to undertake as well as community work such as disabled ramps, sporting club facilities etc. Therefore, theoretical training is delivered in the training rooms and immediately reinforced on the workshop floor.

Initially we will concentrate on the Engineering trade area and intend to run Pre Trade and Engineering courses, provide training for our own apprentices and provide the wider community with opportunities to make use of the facility by furthering their own training. The fitting out of the centre is set to start late November, with the proposed date open for service being in February 2011.

GAGAL would like to thank the federal government and the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations immensely for the grant approval, without it the BEST centre would not have been possible and the Callide Dawson Valley would miss out on a fantastic opportunity for vital training.             

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