WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING THEM?
OPINION
THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM. CAN’T TEST. NO IDEA. NEVER USED OHM’S LAW ONCE SINCE I BECAME A TRADIE. WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING THEM? SOME POSTS ON FACEBOOK FORUMS HAVE PROVIDED PLENTY TO LAUGH AT, BUT USUALLY SOMEWHERE IN THERE, YOU’LL SEE A FEW COMMENTS LIKE THESE. OFTEN, THE LINK TO TRAINING IS MADE, BUT IS THAT THE CAUSE OF POOR ELECTRICAL WORK? WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT, WHEN THE QUESTION ‘WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING THEM?’ IS ASKED, IS WHO ARE ‘THEY’? The arrangements for training apprentices have remained relatively unchanged since the 1970s. A four-year apprenticeship, attending college for one day a week or possibly in blocks, and then a capstone assessment of varying complexity to finish the training. Equally, without much change, are the fundamentals taught in class. The big laws of electrical, Ohm’s, Lenz’s and Kirchhoff’s, are as true today as they were when proven. So, what’s changed? What may surprise you, is the amount of time an apprentice spends with their employer. When you look at the time spent with them, versus the time spent in college, what would seem a reasonable amount? Does that stack up in the real world?
How can we all contribute to successful apprentice outcomes, where Facebook forums have less content to laugh at, and more to applaud? The RTO, whether industry or TAFE, is required to employ trainers that meet three criteria. They must hold the appropriate training qualification, and the relevant qualification they teach. The third, and a vitally important factor, is that both require currency, meaning every trade teacher must maintain their knowledge and understanding of current trade practice. When we factor back in that an apprentice spends 88% of their time with their employer, who has the most influence in developing their trade skills? The trade teacher, who sees them for
12% of their apprenticeship? Or the mentor, coach, supervisor, manager and colleagues who see them 88% of the time? So, we should ask ourselves - are we all up to date with the latest rules, regulations and practices in industry? Make no mistake, the apprentice is central. Their desire to learn and be taught is paramount in the success of their apprenticeship. Yet they can only be taught by us, the RTO and employer. In this case, the ‘they’ is us, both parties. Together we teach apprentices the theory and fundamentals at college and the hands-on, real-world skills with the employer. If we all do our part, we will see a marked improvement in Capstone pass rates, less ‘dodgy electrical’ and a secure future for our trade.
Currently, a four-year apprenticeship contract equates to about 8,320 hours. We can split that between on-the-job and off-the-job, essentially, the employer and registered training organisation (RTO) split. On average there is about 1,000 hours of off-the-job training over the four years. So, approximately 12% of the time is spent off-the-job, at an RTO. The remaining 88% is with the employer. Leave taken during the apprenticeship can be offset against the rising number of apprentices who have completed a pre-apprenticeship, so that split of 12/88 is relatively stable. Back to the ‘they’ question. Training is not solely the responsibility of the RTO. A training plan and its related contract of training, has three major stakeholders: the RTO, the employer, and most importantly, the apprentice.
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Steve Hall General Manager, College of Electrical Training
April 2022
