13
ASSOCIATIONS
IOPSA has been awarded
a training contract by the
Department of Higher
Education and Training to
control the technical quality
of a dual training system for
apprentices in plumbing.
Join IOPSA’s
training revolution
The industry needs to take ownership
to help upskill tradespeople.
By IOPSA
According to a spokesperson for IOPSA, this
is a three-year project that commenced
earlier this year. IOPSA is responsible for
acting as a lead employer, whereby selected
students are then registered as employees
of IOPSA with all the necessary registration
and all the legal requirements being
complied with, and IOPSA paying a stipend
to these students/apprentices monthly.
The training will take place at two colleges
in Gauteng and two in the Eastern Cape. It is
considered a pilot project whereby policies,
procedures, and lessons learnt will be used to
formulate an ongoing and sustainable training
programme at public colleges, as well as
private colleges beyond the pilot project.
There is a total of 100 apprentices within
this pilot project and they have all been
recruited from the TVET colleges where
the students have completed the national
certificate in vocational training at level
four. The aim is to have a complement of
50% female and 50% male students within
this project. Thus far, IOPSA is on target
with this ratio.
One of the challenges that IOPSA is facing is
to find suitable host employers to assist with
on-the-job-training for these apprentices.
IOPSA is appealing to its members and non-
members to come forward to join this worthy
cause of upskilling individuals for our industry.
“We need skilled artisans; there is a critical
shortage of skilled plumbers and we can only
have skilled plumbers if we train and upskill
them ourselves. Training and upskilling at a
training facility only is not going to render the
qualified artisans that we are looking for. A
critical shortage in this upskilling process is
qualitative on-the-job-training, and to enable
us to achieve this, we are dependable on your
support and participation. It does not cost
you money, but it will only cost you effort to
participate in this. The benefits you will reap
will be uncountable,” says the spokesperson.
IOPSA is appealing to all industry players
to join in the revolution in this upskilling
and training process. Without the industry’s
buy-in, the association believes it will
not be able to complete this training
programme successfully. PA
For more information regarding the training programme, contact Nick Joubert on
+27 (0) 11 454 0025, or email [email protected]
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
September 2018 Volume 24 I Number 7