Tehan promotes heavily discounted short courses to support ECEC sector stand downs

All Australians, including those working in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector are being encouraged by Federal Minister for Education, Dan Tehan, to take advantage of heavily discounted short, online courses from some of the country’s leading institutions as the impact of COVID-19 related stand downs and job losses continues. 

The Federal Government has facilitated the roll out of a suite of six-month, online courses focussing on areas of national priority such as nursing, teaching, counselling, IT and allied health as part of its Higher Education Relief Package. 

Designed to support those who are wanting to learn new skills to improve their job prospects, Mr Tehan said Australians “could now use their time in lockdown to gain new qualifications in their current job or learn new skills to transition to a new career.”

“The cost of studying these courses has been slashed to support Australians who have lost their job or had their work hours reduced” he added, saying the higher education sector “has stepped up to the challenge of developing short and focused online courses and aligning them with sector/industry needs.”

As well as responding to what he termed the “immediate need to keep our workforce engaged”  and adding long-term career value, Mr Tehan said the courses “present the opportunity on the back of the pandemic for universities to lead globally with a pivot towards a new shape of higher education for a transformed economy.”

Course fees range from $1,250 to $2,5000 for a six month course, with deferred payment available through HECS-HELP. A website, Course Seeker, has been developed to support those wishing to study, and may be accessed here.