Construction professions are very popular in the Rivne region. There are three vocational schools in the region that train plumbers alone. One of them is Higher Vocational School No. 22 in Sarny.
Vitalii Sashko, the school’s Deputy Director for Educational and Production Work, said that currently, plumbers are recruited only from among school leavers in the 11th grade. Their training is integrated with the profession of plasterboard installer. The school has set up training and practical centres for both professions, so students can practice all the necessary skills on modern equipment. Given the interest in the plumbing industry, the school plans to start enrolling 9th grade graduates. However, their training will be integrated with the professions of bricklayer and plasterer.
For the school, joining the Ukrainian-Swiss project to improve plumbing education was a turning point in the training of plumbers. What exactly has changed? Vitalii Sashko tells us the story.
About the training centre
Higher Vocational School No. 22 in Sarny has been participating in the first and second phases of the project to improve plumbing education in Ukraine for 8 years. As part of the first phase, the school set up a state-of-the-art training and practical centre. It has samples of pipes and fittings, modern plumbing for bathrooms, a stand with underfloor heating, water heaters and other plumbing stations.
“The new logistical facilities immediately began to work in favour for the institution. The quality of training has improved, and it has become easier to recruit freshmen to study plumbing. Due to martial law, a crisis arose among employers, but previously, local companies or regional offices of large manufacturers initiated master classes and seminars at our centre. The events were held for students and were quite popular and in demand among young people," the Deputy Director said.
On cooperation with employers
Local businesses regularly hire students for internships and have already seen that the level of training of plumbers at the school is high. As a result, graduates are invited to work at Sarny enterprises. However, some professionals are employed in Rivne, Kyiv, Odesa or other large cities.
“With the outbreak of a full-scale war, many companies are unable to hire interns. In addition, the level of construction in the country has dropped significantly, and construction businesses are concerned with retaining rather than expanding their staff. Today, we manage to find internships for all students, but it has become much more difficult. At the same time, we are convinced that we need to maintain a high level of training for construction professionals, as their knowledge and skills will be worth their weight in gold after our victory,” the Deputy Director explained.
About the professional skills competition
Higher Vocational School No. 22 in Sarny always supports professional competitions, in particular among plumbing students.
“A few weeks ago, at the initiative of EdUP, we held a professional skills competition. The task was to work with a water measuring unit. For our students, this set of devices is not something new, but the stand was well decorated. Even such a simple thing can spark the interest of a young professional. So, after assembling the unit, the participants had to check its tightness. EdUP's technical expert explained that professional plumbers should not only take into account that the unit is well assembled, but also make sure that it works reliably,” the Deputy Director said.
The VET school representative believes that professional skills competitions promote the profession and help to overcome stereotypes about the work of plumbers. The competitions show that a plumber is a successful person who is in demand in the labour market. Moreover, the daily comfort of millions of people depends on their skills and abilities.
What did you like most about EdUP?
“The EdUP project is systematically engaged in the professional development of teachers and masters of industrial training. They are constantly introduced to new plumbing technologies. Over the years, the professional level of teachers has increased significantly. In addition, a lot of attention is paid to administrations. We visit other institutions and communicate with colleagues from other regions. After such exchanges, we adopt and implement something, and somewhere we realise that we have a well-established process and it does not need to be changed. Even students can communicate with students from other regions during professional competitions. For them, this is experience, impressions, and a broader outlook,” Vitalii explained.
The VET school’s team also notes that during the first phase of the project, the school was continuously provided with consumables. Now such support is also provided, but in a smaller amount.
About adult training
The VET school provides training for adults in 10 professions, including plumbing.
“We recently graduated a group of plumbers. It included both adults who are learning the profession from scratch and those who already have some experience and even performed plumbing work on construction sites. The latter came to us to get modern, technologically correct knowledge and a certificate of a skilled worker. It will allow them to work officially in their profession and earn more,” the Deputy Director quoted as saying.
The course is also of interest to students who want to learn an additional working profession.
What’s next?
The VET schools representative considers the professional skills competitions a good experience for vocational instructors, teachers, and students alike. Since EdUP usually organises competitions as part of the Install Fest plumbing equipment exhibition, Vet school representatives get the opportunity to learn about the best plumbing systems and meet representatives of manufacturing companies. So the school team would like to continue to participate in events that will improve their professional skills.
The VET school is also interested in sharing best practices and experience in developing plumbing education. In addition, it would be helpful to provide consumables and tools used in the training of students.
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The Public-Private Partnership to Improved Plumbing Education (EdUP) is a project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, in partnership with Geberit Trading LLC, implemented by Swisscontact Foundation for Technical Cooperation and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.