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Private training provider opens senior secondary college for international students

Darren Boon

Wed Feb 11 2015

Study

A NEW senior secondary school run by a private training provider has opened in West Melbourne, offering an alternative education pathway for young international students to further their studies in Australia. Darren Boon reports.

Western Senior Secondary College has opened in West Melbourne, offering international students an alternative pathway to further their studies in Australia.

The college is part of the Western Institute of Technology, an Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) registered vocational education and training provider with campuses in Victoria.

The school is different to independent, Catholic and government secondary schools as it is considered a private training provider, and is registered as a “non-school secondary provider” approved to deliver the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL).

This enables students to receive a senior secondary certificate for further education and training in higher education.

A spokesperson from the Education Department told Meld that although the Western Institute of Technology was registered as a “non-school senior secondary provider”, many of these providers offer “alternative settings to engage with young people who have previously struggled in mainstream schools”.

While Western Senior Secondary College principal David Warner has made it clear that the school is “open to local and international students” the current cohort is made up entirely of international students, according to figures obtained by Fairfax.

The Fairfax reports enrolment figures at 33, with students from India, Bangladesh, Germany, China and Malaysia, with some students as young as 16.

At the time of publishing, information on school fees was not yet available on Western Senior Secondary College’s website, but the Fairfax report puts the cost of the course at $15,000 which comes with “very solid homestay and guardianship programs”.

Western Senior Secondary College could not be reached for comment.

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