Hi all,
My wife is looking for a childcare course with cert III. I searched online to get a good institute for online or class room trainings but unable to select one as we are new to Sydney, Australia. As we are fairly new to Australia, I felt Ozbargain is best place to get valuable and different suggestions. We are looking for below criteria.
- Looking for 6 months course.
- The fee I am willing to pay is around one grand to $1500.
- Good placements from that institute.
- In and around Parramatta/Blacktown and online
is preferred. - We are permanent residents, do we have any free Childcare courses available?
My wifes background: She have 6 years of office administration experience in India.
Thanks in advance and looking for your valuable suggestions.
Okay, depending on your situation the first thing to remember is the fact that if your wife has newly arrived to Australia and does not have the necessary citizenship or visa requirements to permanently stay in Australia she will not get funding from the government to do her course. Thus, the fee that you have envisaged may not be sufficient for the course. I'm not sure how permanent residency works in this realm, so you'd have to do some research there.
Secondly, you should be looking at renowned universities and TAFEs for the correct course. Certificate 3 is good, but a Diploma would likely be better in the long run in terms of employability. There is an abundance of C3 holders in this industry, and if your wife does not have the relevant experience here then the C3 won't do her many favours; a Diploma would give her at least some advantage. But this will be roughly double the price of a C3 course.
Thirdly, always look for a provider that displays the 'Nationally Recognised Training' logo. There will be countless of rogue providers who claim to give C3 courses for $300, with no placements necessary, can be completed in 2 months, etc. They will scam you. They do not issue genuine qualifications.
A C3 course should take about 6 months full time, and a Diploma 12 months. Double these times if she's is doing it part time. Both courses have placements as a mandatory requirement. It might be tempting to take the easy way out in terms of finance and required effort, but going to a non-recognised, non-accredited training provider may render your wife's qualification invalid.
I understand you are in NSW, but as a guide, international students at Swinburne (VIC) will pay $7250 + amenities charges + course materials for a C3 course. Again, you'll have to check up if permanent residency qualifies for local student status. If so, about $4000 should be your budget for Certificate 3.
To answer your final question, there are no free childcare courses available to any student.
Hope this helps.