Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE, also known as GippsTAFE, is a TAFE institute located in the Latrobe Valley

Latrobe Valley

The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical region and urban area of Gippsland in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is east of the City Of Melbourne and nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Great Dividing Range to the north – with the highest peak to the north of the...

, Gippsland

Gippsland

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

 region of Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It has campuses located at Morwell

Morwell, Victoria

-Transport:The main form of transport in Morwell is the automobile. The Princes Freeway now bypasses the town to the south while the old Princes Highway which once passed through east-west through its centre is now Princes Drive and Commercial Road. The highway connects Morwell with other...

, Yallourn

Yallourn, Victoria

Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria, Australia built between the 1920s and 1950s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex. However, expansion of the adjacent open-cut brown coal mine led to the closure...

, Warragul

Warragul, Victoria

Warragul is a rural centre with a population of 12,943 people east-southeast of Melbourne in Victoria. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north...

, Chadstone

Chadstone, Victoria

Chadstone is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Monash. Landmarks include the Waverley Basketball Centre, Jordanville Community Centre and the Matthew Flinders Hotel...

 and Leongatha

Leongatha, Victoria

Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. The town is the commercial, religious, educational and civic centre of the region. At the 2006 census, Leongatha had a population of 4,504.The Murray...

.

With the Gippsland Region being Australia's largest power producing centre GippsTAFE has developed a strong focus in training for the energy, mining and telecommunications industries. It also provides a wide selection of study options in vocational education

Vocational education

Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...

 from short courses, pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships and traineeships through to certificate, diploma, advanced diploma level, under the Australian Qualifications Framework

Australian Qualifications Framework

The Australian Qualifications Framework provides the hierarchy of educational qualifications in Australia. It is administered nationally by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Few qualifications outside the system are accepted by employers or for...

. In 2006 12,000 students studied at Central Gippsland TAFE at over 300 courses.

In 2005 GippsTAFE teamed up with Australia's Ceramic Fuel Cells

Ceramic Fuel Cells

Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd is an Australian fuel cell technology company, based in Melbourne. The company produces the "BlueGen" gas-to-electricity generators. CFCL's develops solid oxide fuel cell technology to provide reliable, energy efficient, high quality, and low-emission electricity from...

, Ltd. (CFCL) to conduct a field trail of a fuel cell-powered micro-combined heat and power (CHP) generator appliance, conducted at the Chadstone Campus.

Gippsland Educational Precinct

In 2004 Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE (GippsTAFE) signed a partnership agreement to develop the Gippsland Education Precinct (GEP) at Churchill

Churchill, Victoria

Churchill is a town in the Latrobe Valley, located in central Gippsland in the east of Victoria, Australia. The town had a population of 4,588 at the 2006 census, and is part of the Latrobe City local government area...

 together with Monash University

Monash University

Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....

, Gippsland Group Training, Kurnai Secondary College and Latrobe City

Latrobe City

The City of Latrobe is a Local Government Area in eastern Victoria, Australia. It includes the centres of Moe, Morwell and Traralgon; and the towns of Boolarra, Churchill, Tyers, Yallourn North...

, to provide wider vocational options and lift the region's high school retention rate. The $12million project funded by the Victorian Government will include a state-of-the-art technology centre, which will allow for advanced apprenticeship training in trades that rely heavily on information technology systems.