Feature Story
In July 1974, the Victorian Education Department’s Technical Schools Division chose Preston Technical College to undertake the planning of a model Library Resource Centre (LRC) for TAFE.
During this Decade
1975: The Whitlam Government is dismissed from power by Governor General Sir John Kerr; Liberal – National Party coalition win the federal election with Malcolm Fraser as Prime Minister; colour Television and Public FM radio broadcasts commence.
NMIT Milestones
1978: High School evening classes at the Collingwood Education Centre and Prices Hill High School become part of the CTS TAFE operations.
The Rise of Vocational Education
In the turbulent 1970s, technical education was finally given both the close attention it deserved and the means to progress further in implementing needed change with significantly increased funding.
Education for Industry and Community
The only one in the world? The Preston College of TAFE Mobile Library
Student Enrolments
In 1979, enrolments at Preston Technical College exceeded 10,700 and of these, 890 were full-time students.
Did you know?
By the early 1970s new technical schools had been established in the suburban outskirts of Melbourne. As a result, the enrolment catchment area of Collingwood Technical School began to contract to the inner suburbs of Carlton, Collingwood and Fitzroy.
Final Siren
In the VFL, the Premiers were Hawthorn (1971), Carlton (1972), Richmond (1973 and 1974), North Melbourne (1975), Hawthorn (1976), North Melbourne (1977), Hawthorn (1978), and Carlton (1979).
Winning Post
Melbourne Cup winners for the 1970s were Baghdad Note (1970), Silver Night (1971), Piping Lane (1972), Gala Supreme (1973), Think Big (1974), Think Big (1975), Van der Hum (1976), Gold and Black (1977), Arwon (1978) and Hyperno (1979).
1970s
The 1970s marked the coming of age for vocational and technical education in Australia. The Commonwealth Government conducted a number of enquiries into the state of VET across the nation during the early part of the decade. Resulting reports, in particular the Kangan Report (1975), recommended sweeping changes across the VET sector, including substantial funding increases and national curricula. The acronym, TAFE, entered the lexicon of Australian education.
Collingwood Technical School finally achieved official recognition as a college and changed its name to Collingwood Technical College in 1970. The College’s student demographic had also significantly changed as a result of national immigration policies and the growth of new technical school in the outer suburbs. By the mid-1970s the CTS catchment area had shrunk to the core inner suburbs of Carlton, Collingwood and Fitzroy and around 68 percent of the student population were either migrants or the children of migrants and comprised approximately 26 non-English speaking nationalities ... a major change from the predominantly Anglo-Celtish student population of the 1950s.
By this time Preston Technical College had become the largest technical education provider in Melbourne’s northern suburbs with a Learning Resource Centre that became the model for VET libraries during the following decade.
The 1970s marked the coming of age for vocational and technical education in Australia. The Commonwealth Government conducted a number of enquiries into the state of VET across the nation during the early part of the decade. Resulting reports, in particular the Kangan Report (1975), recommended sweeping changes across the VET sector, including substantial funding increases and national curricula. The acronym, TAFE, entered the lexicon of Australian education.
