Pathway for students amid COVID

A university preparation course is being launched ahead of schedule to help students amid uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

Through a partnership with Cartec Training, South West Vetlink and Curtin University, students have the opportunity to enrol in a diploma pathway to enter university for a Bachelor of Commerce or Bachelor of Environmental Science.

Enrolments for the program are already open and South West Vetlink executive officer Donna Wroth said there was already a lot of interest.

“This is a brand-new program that we’ve brought forward because of COVID, to allow for mid-year enrolments,” she said.

“We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback about it already and we anticipate a great uptake in semesters to come, too.

“We were going to leave it until next year, but with everything that’s going on, we wanted to give students as many opportunities for pathways into university.”

The program is completed in conjunction with regular school and gives students credits and up to six months of the Commerce or Environmental Science degree at Curtin.

Cartec Training general manager Josh Hardy said his hope was the program was the beginning of a worthwhile partnership to offer support, security and variety to students studying in the South West.

“The diploma focuses on real-world skills and gives students the opportunity to graduate with a recognised qualification,” he said. “With the pressure that our secondary students are currently under, we’re thrilled to be able to offer this program, which hopefully relieves some of the insecurities they may be feeling about gaining entry to university.”