Trades not being pushed as a viable career option, survey finds
Schools aren’t doing enough to push traditional trades as a viable career option, a new industry survey has found.
TRADITIONAL trades are not pushed as a viable career option for schoolkids despite the benefits, a new industry survey has found.
A survey conducted by TradeTools of almost 1000 tradies found more than 70 per cent felt their school did not make trades seem like a successful option, with many saying they were actively dissuaded and pushed towards the university route.
TradeTools content manager Brad Ward said he was alarmed by the findings but not overly surprised, and said with reports of a looming skill shortage attitudes need to be changed.
“We need schoolkids to know how good life as a tradie can be, rather than it being seen as a fall-back,” he said.
“It’s a real worry that this country might end up with a skill shortage, we can never have enough skilled workers and there are a lot of trades in very high-demand.”
In 2018, there were more than 74,000 vocational education and training (VET) school students – including school-based apprenticeships and trainees – in Queensland, the most of any state.
However that was about 10,000 fewer students than in 2017, and 20,000 fewer than in 2015.
The TradeTools survey received many passionate responses from current tradies, including one recalling being told by a school counsellor “your grades are excellent, why aren’t you pursing university”.
Another said they were given the impression that “trades were for school drop-outs and losers”, while another said the feeling was go to university or “fail at life”.
But others said they felt well supported by their schools, including being helped with jobs and interviews.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training said two new programs had been introduced by the state government to encourage school students to consider VET study post school, including the $32 million free apprenticeship for under 21s program launched last month.
Shoreside Plumbing first-year apprentice Brandon Marcinkowski, 19, completed one year of a university degree in physiotherapy at Griffith University before he decided to pursue a trade.
He said he was made to feel university was the only viable career option while attending a Gold Coast private school, from which he graduated in 2017.
“Throughout school it was really pumped into you that you need to go to university,” he said.
“We weren’t really told anything about TAFE or what our options were, and I felt pressured into choosing a course when I didn’t even really know what I wanted to do.
“I lost interest, partly because of the student debt I knew I was racking up and because I wanted to do something more hands-on.
“Being able to go into the workforce and earn money while learning seemed more logical and straightforward to me, rather than finishing a degree with a $60,000 debt and scratching my head and thinking ‘where do I go now?’.
Mr Marcinkowski said he was very happy with his decision to pull the plug on university just a year in, rather than jump between courses.
Shoreside Plumbing owner Matt Neave, 37, didn’t start an apprenticeship until he was 26, and said he felt like “a square peg trying to fit into a round hole” at school.
“Doing a trade when I did, and even sometimes now, it can be something which is looked down upon – there’s a bit of a stigma,” he said.
“But I think that’s wrong. There are a lot of opportunities, the money’s good, you can start your own business.
“I think schools definitely need to explain to kids their options, and the government needs to look at how they approach it, and sell it.”
Queensland Secondary Principals’ Association president Mark Breckenridge said schools played a crucial role in helping students find the right career for them, and it was something they do day-to-day.
“From Year 9 and certainly in Year 10, there is a lot of discussion about what’s your pathway, what subjects do students need to take,” he said.
“There are numerous pathways out there, different trades and occupations they can pursue, and we need to make sure we are preparing students and supporting them in their choice.”
