Free TAFE Cert 3 in Early Childhood Education and Care Coming to Ararat

Ararat Rural City Council in conjunction with Federation University Australia will bring the Free TAFE Certificate 3 in Early Childhood Education and Care to the Ararat Jobs and Technology Precinct at 3/5 Laby Street.

Images: The Ararat Jobs and Technology Precinct on Laby Street, where the Cert 3 course will be held.

Students will be able to access hybrid classes from Ararat, removing the need to travel to Ballarat or Horsham for their course contact hours. 

An information session will be held at the Ararat Jobs and Technology Precinct on Friday 5 July at 10am to 11am. Register for the information session here.

This initiative will help address existing workforce shortages in the early childhood education sector. The Certificate 3 opens career opportunities as an Early Childhood Educator, Education Assistant or Outside School Hours Care Worker. Prospective students who enrol by 9 July can commence their Certificate 3 in the next intake, which starts on Monday 15 July 2024. 

Ararat Rural City will also be one of the first local government areas to transition from 15 hours of 4-Year-Old Kindergarten to 30 hours of Pre-Prep in 2025. Our local early childhood education services will need additional staff to deliver the new program. 

Students undertaking the Certificate 3 in Early Childhood Education and Care can ‘earn while they learn’ by gaining casual or part time employment at the local kindergartens or childcare centres. This employment may also count towards the work placement requirements of the course. 

Once students complete the Certificate 3 course, they become eligible to enrol in the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care, which is also a Free TAFE course. Students who continue on to the Diploma course may be eligible for the $7,000 Certificate III Upskill Support Program. The Diploma is also a pathway into the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education), and may be counted as 1 year of credit towards the Bachelor degree. 

"Access to quality early childhood education helps to set up our youngest residents for the best health, wellbeing and success possible," says Ararat Rural City Council CEO, Dr Tim Harrison. "Early childhood education and care is also a critical enabler for parents and carers, primarily women, to access employment and training as well. 

"This initiative contributes to Council’s ongoing commitment to developing key skills areas in the municipality. It will also complement the Ararat Jobs and Technology Precinct, which is a digitally sophisticated multi-use hub for research, business start-ups, and a professional co-working space. This demonstrates that having access to reliable digital technologies in regional centres such as Ararat fosters workforce development, increased productivity, economic growth, and sustainability of our businesses and services.” 

For more information, see these links: 

To enrol into Cert 3 in Early Childhood Education and Care at Federation University, go to: https://study.federation.edu.au/course/DLBA 

For more information on Pre-Prep, go to: https://www.vic.gov.au/preprep 

For local childcare centres and kindergartens, see: https://www.ararat.vic.gov.au/community/living-ararat/kindergartens-and-day-care-centres 

For financial support to upgrade from Cert 3 to Diploma, see the Certificate III Upskill Support Program: https://www.vic.gov.au/financial-support-study-and-work-early-childhood#certificate-iii-upskill-support-program 

To upgrade from Diploma to a Bachelor through Federation University, see: https://federation.edu.au/institutes-and-schools/ieac/early-childhood-tertiary-partnership