How to enter the individual categories of the 2021 SA Training Awards

Why enter the South Australian Training Awards? One of last year’s winners reveals his experience and why more young people should pursue a trade.

APPRENTICESHIPS do not just give young people the trade skills they need to work in exciting industries but confidence in themselves to make great achievements.

Steven Skinner, 2020 VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year South Australia representative at the Australian Training Awards, says the importance of a skilled career for young people cannot be understated.

Skinner, who went on to be the runner-up in the category at the Awards, has more than 40 years’ experience in the heavy engineering and defence industry.

He now works full time as a lecturer at TAFE SA and has seen first-hand the amazing transformation that skills and training can have.

“A lot of students who come to VET courses all of a sudden realise they can do things with their hands they never thought of, they learn a new skill, once competent they are assessed on what they have learnt, and they gain a new skill,” Skinner says.

Steven Skinner believes young people can gain much from doing an apprenticeship, beyond just the skills to be a tradie.

“They come here with little skills and leave with a lot and a new-found confidence in their ability.

“A lot of the young people coming through these programs have accepted apprenticeships and jobs.

“VET is great, because you get your practice, you learn, you demonstrate and then you’ve got a skill.”

Skinner started an apprenticeship as a boilermaker and welder at Perry Engineering in 1976, where he worked for almost 25 years, before joining Century Products and then the Air Warfare program for 11 years at its inception to completion.

It was while working as a tradesman that he dipped his toes into life as an educator as an instructor with many projects with TAFE SA.

Skinner transitioned to full-time lecturing five years ago, leveraging his passion and love of the industry to inspire the next generation of South Australian apprentices.

“VET is a great system of education, because it opens your eyes up to things you never thought possible of yourself,” he says.

“I started as an apprentice, became a tradesman, I’ve worked up to the highest levels in industry and now I’m giving back to my industry through training.

“There’s no limits. A lot of our students see that now.”

SA Power Networks won an employer award at the SA Training Awards last year for its apprenticeship program.

He says his success in the Training Awards was one of the highlights of his life.

“To represent my state, and to be fortunate enough to be the runner-up in the Australian Training Awards, was unbelievable,” he says.

The South Australian Training Awards program, now in its 25th year, celebrates the achievements of the state’s best and brightest students, trainers, training providers, schools and employers.

The year-long program, which is presented by the Training and Skills Commission, showcases vocational education and training (VET) as a pathway of choice for the state’s current and future workforce.

In 2021, there will be 12 awards presented – six for individuals and six for organisations – as well as the Voters’ Choice Award, which is presented to the public’s favourite individual finalist.

Applications are open until May 17.

Finalists for the 2021 South Australian Training Awards will be announced in July ahead of a recognition event to be held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on August 27.

satrainingawards.sa.gov.au

Originally published as How to enter the individual categories of the 2021 SA Training Awards