Feature Story

Design drawings for constructing the COLTECH lathe were sent to the Central Drawing Office in Maribyrnong where it was to be modified and so could be used for other purposes; drawings were supplied to other States and New Zealand.

During this Decade

Great Depression hits Australia hard – at its peak in the early 1930s around one third of Australians were out of work.

NMIT Milestones

1930: Mr. Matthew Richardson, foundation Principal of Collingwood Technical School from 1912, retires.

The Rise of Vocational Education

In the 1930s, the Age Newspaper was adding its voice to the calls to invest in technical education as a way to improve the employability of youth and to combat youth unemployment, at a time when there was an identified lack of trades-qualified workers. A call that the echoes to the present day.

Student Enrolments

By 1939 Collingwood Technical School had 630 secondary and 1692 post secondary enrolments

Did you know?

Preston flagpole
The Australian Natives Association donated the flagpole for during the establishment of Preston Technical School.

Final Siren

In the VFL the Premiers were Geelong (1931), Richmond (1932), South Melbourne (1933), Richmond (1934), Collingwood (1935 and 1936), Geelong (1937), Carlton (1938), Melbourne (1939 and 1940).

Winning Post

Melbourne Cup winners for the 1930s were Phar Lap (1930), White Nose (1931), Peter Pan (1932), Hall Mark (1933), Peter Pan (1934), Marabou (1935), Wotan (1936), The Trump (1937), Catalogue (1938), and Rivette (1939).

1930s

Despite momentous world events such as the Great Depression and outbreak of the World War II, the 1930s witnessed increased demand for vocational education, particularly in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.

The Depression resulted in cuts to maintenance grants for Collingwood Technical School and teachers were required to take a pay-cut including the Principal who lost 20% out of his pay packet. Nonetheless, many instructors worked as volunteers to assist unemployed youth and adults to become more proficient in the technical areas of their trade.

Collingwood Tech also lost its driving force during this decade as Matthew Richmond, the foundation Principal of the school from 1912, retired in 1930.

Despite tough times and the retirement of Strang, Collingwood Tech continued to grow and The Argus reported on February 6th 1936, that there were 1271 night students and 837 day pupils; enrolments were so high that many applicants were turned away.

It was becoming clear in the 1930s, that given the growth of the northern suburbs of Melbourne, a technical school would be needed to serve that area. Up until then students had to attend Collingwood or Brunswick Technical Schools or other schools further away. As result, the mid-1930s saw a renewed push for a new technical school and the foundation of Preston Technical School in 1937.

On a national level, the growing beating of war drums in Europe also gave rise to increased Commonwealth support for technical education.