Feature Story
Collingwood and Preston Technical Colleges become the Northern Metropolitan College of TAFE (NMCOT)
During this Decade
1980: John Lennon murdered in New York City; Evonne Cawley (Goolagong) wins the Wimbledon Ladies Singles title for the second time; Azaria Chamberlain goes missing at Ayers Rock (Ulluru).
NMIT Milestones
December 10, 1981: The PIT Council passes a motion to set up a committee to manage the TAFE sector of the College, with the intent that this committee become, in time, an incorporated body known as the Council of the Preston College of Technical and Further Education.
Then and Now
In 1920, the then Collingwood Technical School Council had tried to have the School renamed the ‘Northern District Technical School’.
The Rise of Vocational Education
The 1980s was a period of unprecedented national economic and educational reforms. .
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Student Enrolments
During the 1980s numbers in the secondary school section of Collingwood Technical College steadily declined from around 398 in 1980
Did you know?
A special guest at the official opening of Collingwood College of TAFE’s new Otter Street complex was Collingwood Football club legend and former Collingwood Technical School student, Lou Richards.
Final Siren
In the VFL the Premiers were Carlton (1981 and 1982), Hawthorn (1983), Essendon (1984 and 1985), Hawthorn (1986), Carlton (1987), Hawthorn (1988 and 1989).
Winning Post
Melbourne Cup winners for the 1980s were Beldale Ball (1980), Just a Dash (1981), Gurner’s Lane (1982), Kiwi (1983), Black Knight (1984), What a Nuisance (1985), At Talaq (1986), Kensei (1987), Empire Rose (1988), and Tawrrific (1989).
1980s
The vocational training landscape changed dramatically during the 1980s. The decade saw an expansion of apprenticeship programs; the introduction of competency based training on a national scale; greater involvement of industry in VET sector; the emergence of private providers and the dramatic growth of the inbound international student market.
On a local level, enrolments within the secondary school section of Collingwood Technical College were dropping (due to competition from newly established technical schools in the outer suburbs) heralding the eventual closure of Collingwood’s junior technical school (or secondary section) later in the decade. At the same time junior technical schools across the state were closing and students moved across to high schools (or secondary colleges).
Trouble was also brewing over at Preston College of TAFE which was experiencing significant financial difficulties and was ultimately placed under an interim administration and a total management and operational re-structure.
Collingwood Collage of TAFE (as CTC became known during the decade) was also experiencing financial (although less acute) difficulties and the new management team at Preston Collage of TAFE was asked to explore the prospect of amalgamating the Preston and Collingwood Colleges of TAFE. Amalgamation ultimately occurred with the creation of the Northern Metropolitan College of TAFE (NMCOT) the forerunner to the modern entity known as NMIT.
