THE head of the Chisholm TAFE Institute has been recognised by the state government for decades of work in the education sector.
Chisholm CEO Maria Peters received the Lynne Kosky Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Victorian Training Awards last Wednesday (11 October).
Ms Peters, Chisholm’s CEO since 2010, announced in July she intends to retire at the end of the year.
Chisholm TAFE has nine campuses throughout Victoria including Frankston and Rosebud education centres.
The Frankston campus is undergoing extensive redevelopment, due to be complete next year, as part of a $75.9 million joint state government and Chisholm project to upgrade the TAFE training centre.
Frankston Labor MP Paul Edbrooke said Ms Peters, who is also a member of the Frankston Revitalisation Board, has “made an invaluable contribution to our community”.
“I’m proud that she has been awarded the Lynne Kosky Memorial Award as it is acknowledgement of the huge positive impact she has made on our community.”
When announcing her retirement in July, Ms Peters said a new skills training hub in Frankston is a boost to the area’s economic future.
“This will enable Chisholm to forge even stronger links with business and industry and deliver outstanding education, employment and skills opportunities for the Frankston community and surrounds,” she said.
In 2014, a report by the Victorian Auditor-General revealed Chisholm defied a statewide trend of financial struggle across the TAFE sector by reporting a $30.6 million net surplus, before operating costs.
The Auditor-General praised Chisholm for implementing “effective cost control strategies”.
State Training and Skills Minister Gayle Tierney said last week: “The Victorian Training Awards recognise and honour the outstanding achievements of apprentices, trainees and students and the teachers and businesses who work tirelessly to train them.”
The Lynne Kosky Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement is named after the former state education minister who died in 2014 after contracting toxic shock syndrome after breast cancer surgery.