FIRST STUDENTS COMPLETE TDM PRE-APPRENTICESHIP ORIENTATION PILOT PROGRAMME The first group of 175 students who have participated in the 2010 TDM Powered Pre-Apprenticeship Orientation Pilot Programme have successfully completed their studies. The pilot programme was introduced at seven training institutions across South Africa in February this year namely:
The TDM Pre-Apprenticeship Orientation Programme was the first step in a dedicated effort to address the skills shortage in South Africa , especially in the all important field of tool, die and mould making - a supporting engineering discipline for the manufacturing industry. The students, participating in the pilot programme have successfully completed two semesters of academic and workshop training and have now been placed in the industry for on the job training as part of the final semester of their pre-apprenticeship training. Students will receive their qualifications at a series of graduation ceremonies in November. They will thereafter have the choice to enter the pilot TDM Powered Apprenticeship Programme that will be piloted at 12 academic institutions across South Africa in 2011. Alternatively they can start working in the industry. Completion of the TDM Powered Pre-Apprenticeship Orientation Programme provides students with an American NIMS accredited qualification as well as valuable credits for apprenticeship training. The TDM Powered Pre-Apprenticeship Orientation Programme will become the foundation phase of the TDM Powered Apprenticeship Programme from 2011 and aims to prepare and empower students and industry incumbents for further training to qualify as artisans or engineers. Successful students will be able to pursue exciting careers in a wide range of industries such as the automotive, aerospace, mining chemical, defence and electronics industries. Artisans and engineers can work in these industries as tool designers, project managers, tool die and mould makers, metrologists, specialist computer numerically controlled machinists, engineering analysts etc. The CEO of the National Tooling Initiatives' (NTI) Intsimbi Programme, Dirk van Dyk, says the successful training of the first group of students and industry incumbents is a proud achievement for the NTI. “It is the first and a very important step forward to address the skills shortage in South Africa and will give momentum to the turn-around strategy to enhance skills in the tooling manufacturing industry” says Van Dyk. |
