Academy formed to address construction skills shortage

Taken from: www.constructionindustrynews.net/default.asp

Article by Alex Forrest (Thursday, 12 June 2008).


AN INITIATIVE undertaken by Perth-based engineering and construction company Ertech to address skills shortages in the construction industry has resulted in the formation of a dedicated training academy for senior school students looking to forge a career in civil construction.

The Ertech Construction Academy is aimed at providing students enrolled in years 11 and 12 a Certificate 1 qualification in Civil Infrastructure by allowing them to train at the academy for two days per week while attending normal school for the other three days.Ertech training coordinator Zac Bennett told ConstructionIndustryNews.net that the academy already has the support of the Building Construction Training Industry Fund.

“They will give us a $300 per student start-up payment, and that will pay for their personal protection equipment and work boots,” he said. Training is something that has been on the mind of Ertech’s founder, Jim Giumelli, for some years.

“He’s always had this in the back of his mind, and when I became involved and the word ‘training’ was in my title, he came to me and said, ‘This is what I want to do, let’s do it’.”

The first intake of students was enrolled in the academy in March this year, with the students coming from local Armadale schools and the Clontarf Foundation, an organisation focused on improving the lives of young Aboriginal men. “The students have been told that the top six [of 14 students overall] will be invited to apply for a job with us,” Bennett said. “They won’t get given the job, but chances are they will get it.

That will be a Certificate III traineeship.“Once they finish the course at the Construction Academy, they will have a broad range of machine operation and awareness [training], so mobile plant operations. Also, they will have [familiarity with] all aspects of pipe laying.

“Basically, it’s an introductory course to everything that’s done on a civil site, so they will have limited experience with everything.” He said the course would equip the students with the experience to decide on which area they would like to focus on within the construction industry.

“If they do come on board with us, we’ll put them straight into a Certificate III traineeship, and that has different streams, like plant operation, pipe laying and road construction,” Bennett said. “Then from Certificate III, they can go into Cert IV and as far as engineering, so it’s a pathway into tertiary education if that’s what they want to do.“The kids we’ve got are genuinely interested in what they’re doing. I have spoken to some of the parents, and the kids are actually performing better during the three days they’re at school.”