CANBERRA, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Education Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday announced the federal government would provide funding for hundreds more Australian high schools to set up trade training centers around the country.

    A total of 302 schools have been awarded grants to establish the centers under two of Labor's Trade Training Centers in Schools program.

    Gillard said many of the schools which had received grants planned to work together to establish joint facilities.

    The program would address future labor shortages in traditional and emerging trades, she said.

    In the second round of funding, 223 public schools received more than 73 percent of the total 384 million Australian dollars (347 million U.S. dollars) to go towards 62 projects.

    "Kids need options, they need a pathway, many of our secondary students want to have a career in traditional trades or emerging trades," Gillard told reporters.

    "We recognize too many of our secondary schools had no trades training facility or a facility that was better suited to the 1950s than to the 21st century."