Run by Charles Sturt University innovation hub manager Annette Davies, the Emerge: Building Skills for the Future project involves guest speaker visiting classrooms to engage creative bootcamps.

After a pilot program was successful last year, the CSU initiative was granted $114,506 in state funding to build a broader initiative.

The funding will be used to engage expert speakers and organise events.

But, Ms Davies said, while the funding is always welcome, the course will have to wait or be tailored for a coronavirus-appropriate delivery.

"A lot of the program was going to be face-to-face," Ms Davies said.

"We have had to rethink how to deliver it and we've had to hold it back to start in at least term 3."

Initially, the team had hoped to begin offering the strategy from the beginning of this year.

Last year's pilot program, which was also state-funded, brought together up to 1200 students at speaker sessions in Wagga. Meanwhile, up to 20 individuals attended the bootcamps.

Before the COVID-19 crisis forced restrictions on gatherings, this year's sessions were expected to exceed last year's numbers, with up to 50 students sought for each bootcamp.

"Students can either take a place in one or a range of activities," Ms Davies said.

Armed with the latest round of funding, Ms Davies said there will be no plan to abandon the course, but there will be efforts put into finding an alternative mode of delivery.

She said the COVID-19 challenges have gone ways to prove the necessity of such a course, to develop creative strategies to cope with unforeseen future problems.

"Today's 15-year-olds are going to face a different workforce to those of us who are older," Ms Davies said.

"There are a lot of reports that say what employers are looking for and what they will look for in the future are these soft skills, or professional skills, like critical thinking, digital literacy, collaboration, these are the skills that can be adapted for all sorts of industries."