Building bolder career paths
The Age
Tuesday March 29, 2011
An innovative program opens a route to tertiary study. By Jewel Topsfield. SERENDIPITOUSLY, the day Michael Ceccomancini decided to drop out of school was also the day his careers teacher at St Joseph's College in North Melbourne received an email that would change the course of his life.The message said the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology was running a pilot program, offering students interested in building the option of starting a TAFE course while in year 11.Students would complete a certificate four in building and construction while in years 11 and 12, enabling them to go on to further studies when they finished secondary school.After speaking to his careers teacher, Mr Ceccomancini decided against quitting school and becoming a tiler. Now he thanks his lucky stars. This year Mr Ceccomancini is studying a diploma in building and construction at RMIT. He plans eventually to run his own business or work as a senior project manager on construction sites."It's opened so many doors . . . I can't say enough how good this course was," Mr Ceccomancini says. "I'm not the smartest person; I no way near have the intelligence [of] some people, but when the opportunity came up I took it, and it clicked with me."Under the program, Building Pathways to Construction, students can gain three qualifications and industry experience in four years.After completing the certificate four at school, they are fast-tracked into the second year of a diploma at RMIT and then can progress directly into the third year of a bachelor of applied science.The program provides an alternative path to university for students who would not obtain the tertiary entry scores of 82.75 to get into a bachelor of applied science (construction management) or 78.55 to get into the bachelor of applied science (project management)."It's all about engaging those students who were contemplating leaving school early and not just keeping them in school, but smoothing the way for them to go on to higher studies," says Elise Toomey-Brown, RMIT's schools manager of vocational education and training.Year 11 and 12 students participating in the program spend every Wednesday at RMIT's city campus and go on field trips to large construction sites in the CBD to observe structural principles and occupational health and safety practices and to meet concreters, brick layers and carpenters. They also visit housing estates and parks to observe the use of equipment."It gives you a break from school you also miss a day but it's easy to catch up and stuff," says Sean Campitelli, a year 11 student at St Bernard's College, in Essendon. "I probably wouldn't have got the ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) score to get into university so I probably would have just done an apprenticeship or something," Sean says. "The course has helped me to become a project manager."The idea for the pilot was born after lecturers reported a high drop-out rate in the first year of the bachelor of applied science in construction management and project management degrees among students who had come straight from school and didn't have an understanding of the building industry.This high drop-out rate was despite critical skills shortages in the industry."Because the university entry score was so high, students were doing the degree who had done physics and chemistry at school but didn't have a lot of trade skills," Ms Toomey-Brown says.She had an epiphany: Why not create a pathway for secondary students who were interested in building and construction but at risk of dropping out of school?The pilot, now in its third year, fits with the federal government target of 90 per cent of young people completing year 12, or its equivalent, by 2015. Currently 81 per cent of students in Victoria complete year 12, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.Ms Toomey-Brown says 90 per cent of the students who started the pilot in year 11 in 2009 stayed on to complete year 12 and obtain the certificate four in building and construction. Eighty per cent of those are starting diplomas at RMIT this year.But despite the impressive retention rate, Ms Toomey-Brown says there are other rewards."I think the proudest thing is the kids' happiness they see it as a ticket to getting into something they would never ordinarily have done," she says.She hopes the pilot will be a precedent for other programs, such as students completing a certificate three in allied health while at school then progressing to a diploma of nursing.Meanwhile, Mr Ceccomancini plans to start the bachelor degree at RMIT next year. "There is no way I would have done a bachelor degree, university was such a distant [thought]," he says. "Everyone around me accepted I wouldn't go to university because I wouldn't get the marks. My parents are rapt."
© 2011 The Age
