Significant economic and policy changes have led us to the TAFE Queensland we are today. Our history is rich and our achievements are many. We aren't shy of saying that we've made great happen for over seven million students for over 130 years, and we're proud of it! We've come a long way since our humble beginnings. In 1882 on September 4, we started with only a dozen students in the garret of the North Brisbane School of Arts for a class in mechanical drawing. In the same year, we expanded our course offering to include geology, bookkeeping, French, German and the history of the British Empire. Prior to this, post-school education was expensive and generally reserved for the wealthy. Technical colleges gave a greater number of individuals access to the skills they needed to participate in the workforce.