Teaching scholarship to get experienced tradies into the classroom
Tradies will be given TAFE teaching scholarships in a bid to get younger people into the workforce to fix the state’s skills shortage.
NSW
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Tradies will be given TAFE teaching scholarships in a bid to get younger people into the workforce to fix the state’s skills shortage.
The $5500 scholarships will bring tradies with real industry experience into the organisation and bring fresh blood into employee ranks, where 57 per cent of full time teachers are now aged 55 years and older.
NSW skills minister Geoff Lee said the $3.1 million dollar program will see 525 new teachers enter the workforce.
“We want the best and brightest in the industry to consider becoming a teacher at TAFE NSW and want to remove barriers for those wanting to give back and train our future workforce,” he said.
The scholarships will enable people to undertake a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment so they can teach in areas of teacher shortages. Mr Lee is also consider fast tracking the course to get more new teachers into the classroom.
“We know that often one of the biggest constraints on people wanting to become TAFE teachers is the cost of the (Training and Assessment certificate),” Mr Lee said.
The scholarship program will commence from February 2020.
Plumber Patrick Moriarty will become a part time TAFE teacher next year and said the job was an opportunity to educate the next generation about what plumbing technology could now do.
“TAFE was after people who have good technical skills, good life skills … and who are still currently working in the industry,” he said.
“The (current) teachers, a lot of them could have been out of the industry for a long time and they could have lost touch with the industry.”
“The houses and the buildings have a lot more plumbing in them now, they used to have one bathroom, a laundry, a kitchen … now everyone has separate bathrooms, ensuites, kitchens, rainwater set ups, hot and cold running everything, filters.”
Employers are unable to fill vacancies for qualified plumbers in metropolitan and regional NSW, a federal Department of Jobs report last year found.
As revealed by The Daily Telegraph last week, across the wider construction industry employers can only fill an average of 38 per cent of all vacancies compared to 43 per cent a year ago.
Big projects like the WestConnex, Western Sydney Airport, Sydney Metro train lines, new hospitals and schools is luring many of the best tradies away from the residential sector creating a shortfall for residential projects.
Average salaries for electricians are $91,455, for plumbers $89,568, tilers $86,048, plasterers $79,081 and carpenters are on $77,772, according to salary data compiled by insurance specialist company Trade Risk.