My point exactly, when i was in training, we (and i mean apprentices accross the board working for the medium sized to the big name electrical contractors) were given a well rounded education as well as the opportunity of mastering the hands-on skills required. These days it seems that C&G's as well as the colleges that are running the courses, primarily revolve around domestic installations. Most of what i would have called ''core'' attributes of being/becoming an qualified electrician have been either taken out of the syllabus completely, or have been reduced to just a brief mention.
It's definitely heading that way I agree, but we must be careful not to tar the full core quals with the same brush as the 5 day whizz kid courses. When I was at college, and we're only talking a few years ago, I was working with SWA and mineral cable within the first few weeks and were taught three phase theory from day one. Motors and their control were in year two along with advanced maths and theory continuing into year three. Now I had by no means a perfect education. In fact, with the benefit of hindsight the tutors I had in year two specifically should not have been allowed anywhere near a FE college! They were bloody useless, and I was extremely lucky to have a third year tutor who was outstanding, and managed to re-teach us properly, a lot of what we had been taught wrong in our second year. That said, I don't feel that the non domestic stuff was reduced to a mere 'brief mention'. In fact, I don't feel that my course was domestically orientated at all.
My personal experiences aside however, the knowledge learners need to be decent, all-round sparks is
all there in the current syllabus. I genuinely believe that the reason for such a large amount of people leaving FE colleges nowadays with an electrical qual in hand but with very little knowledge has not very much to do with the actual content of the course, but instead is mainly down to three other things:
1. There are in my experience an enormous amount of clueless tutors out there! I've both used the services of, and provided services to four state funded colleges local to me. I've spoken with, advised, been taught by, and been assessed by numerous tutors over the years. I can count with the fingers on one hand the number I have come across who have had half a clue what they were talking about and only two out of maybe twenty or so that I know well are actually knowledgable.
2. There is no process in place for weeding out the chaff when it comes to further education in this day and age. It all comes down to bums on seats. It doesn't seem to matter that Joe Bloggs, who is an applicant to an electrical apprenticeship, can't add two and two together. As long as he stumps up the cash, he'll get dragged through along with the rest of the class.
3. There is no system in place to prevent people on electrical courses continuing past year one unless they have gained employment in the industy. No matter how good your theory knowledge may be, there is simply no substitute for real hands on experience. Joe Bloggs, who if you remember can't add two and two together, can sign up for a three year course, get dragged through it, and then walk out with a certificate in his hand having spent not one single day on a site doing the job he is supposedly qualified to do, nor completed a single assessment without having had at least half of the answers given to him on a plate.
Fix these three things, along with the complete abolition of any fast track course into the industry and any private body who supports them, and most importantly make this retrospective so that any five week whizz kid
has to complete a core qualification to continue in his role, and maybe, in a few years time we might start to see a once proud and elite trade standing on its feet again.
