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Parents & Guardians
Parents and guardians often feel isolated from their teenage children when it comes to career choices and all the available options of post compulsory education. You might think there is little information that relates to directly parents and guardians, and the access to that information is limited. It is important for all parents and guardians to be actively involved in the decisions that face their children and to help guide them through the maze of choices that are available.
Australian Council for Private Education and Training
Education is not the sole property of universities and TAFE. Private providers of education offer a wide variety of courses and are often flexible in terms of study patterns and entry requirements. Although they are more expensive than publicly funded institutions, the courses are often shorter in duration and offer large amounts of work experience in relevant industries. Most providers also offer comprehensive job search facilities at the end of the course.
Australian Qualifications Framework
It must be said that if your child's TER/UAI is not what they need to gain entry to university, all is certainly not lost. The Australian Qualifications Framework is a government initiative to nationally standardise all educational qualifications. It will greatly assist life-long learning opportunities and make progression through the educational system far easier than in the past.
Australian University Handbook
If you have a child who is considering University study then here is a site that should help. It lists all the Australian universities and the links to the relevant home page. If you would like to talk to someone at an individual university, call the main listed number in the phone book and ask to speak to either the Prospective Student Adviser or Student Recruitment Officer. It's their job to know about all the different courses that are offered at the university, the entry requirements and general information on the university itself. There are many ways a person can enter university. The pathways to university are varied and differ considerably between institutions.
TAFE NSW
The other main option for most school leavers is to go to TAFE or to move into an apprenticeship or traineeship. These are both great opportunities for your child to continue along the path of education, however it is a lot different to school and the education system they are currently involved in. TAFE, apprenticeships and traineeships are all very practical and focus heavily on the student learning specific industry related skills that will enhance their job prospects once completed. A student can also articulate into a relevant university course once they finish TAFE, often receiving credit for the courses they completed.
Parents and guardians are usually the ones who are left worrying about the cost of education and how they are going to finance their child's dream of going on to further study. There are many places you can go to find out about money. The most important thing is to ask questions and read all the fine print. Every parent or guardian is in the same position as you and it's important to know exactly what you're up for!
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