Technical Education Centres (TEC) are purpose built centres for the delivery of practical secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 and 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...

 programs on a TAFE campus in the state 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...

. They aim to attract young people 16-19 years of age to provide trade skills training while they complete a secondary school certificate. Each TEC is administered by the TAFE Institute it is a part of.

The Centres offer courses in the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning

Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning

The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning is a 'hands-on' option for students in Years 11 and 12 in Victoria, Australia.The VCAL gives students practical work-related experience, as well as literacy and numeracy skills and the opportunity to build personal skills that are important for life...

 (VCAL) at Junior, Intermediate and Senior levels with trade streams and various pre-apprenticeship and pre-vocational courses in trade skills such as bricklaying, cabinet making, carpentry, painting, plumbing and shop fitting.

TECs are located at Berwick and Heidelberg in suburban Melbourne, and Ballarat and Wangaratta in regional Victoria.

• Ballarat TEC was established as part of the University of Ballarat
  University of Ballarat
  The University of Ballarat is a dual-sector university in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. It was formed by the passage of an Act of the Victorian Parliament in 1994, from the Ballarat College of Advanced Education...
  
  , at the SMB campus, Lydiard Street South.

• Berwick TEC was established at Chisholm Institute of TAFE, at the Berwick campus. Centre completed in 2009. A new trade careers centre worth $26 million associated with the TEC was announced in the 2011 State Budget in May.

• Wangaratta TEC was established at Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE
  Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE
  Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE, also known as GOTAFE, is a Technical and Further Education institute located in the north east region of Victoria, Australia based on the Goulburn and Ovens rivers, and is the largest regional TAFE in Victoria, and a specialist centre for food processing, equine...
  
  , at the Wangaratta campus in Docker Street. Initial enrolments of 170 students exceeded expectations. Centre opened in 2007.

• Heidelberg TEC was established at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE
  Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE
  Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE is a TAFE institute located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It has six city campuses located at Preston, Collingwood, Epping, Fairfield, Greensborough, Heidelberg, a country campus at Ararat, and country training facilities at Eden...
  
   (NMIT), at the Heidelberg campus. The $8million Heidelberg Technical Education Centre was opened in May 2010.

The Vocational College at Holmesglen Institute of TAFE

Holmesglen Institute of TAFE

Holmesglen Institute of Technical And Further Education is a tertiary level training institute situated in the South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.-History:...

, while not classified as a TEC, offers a similar range of opportunities.