Two year apprenticeship?

lightnin

I see IT Sligo offer a two year course Higher Certificate in Electrical Installation & Maintenance higher-certificate-in-electrical-installation-maintenance.
Under the present scheme the Craft of Electrical apprenticeship lasts 4 years and is divided into 7 distinct phases, so my question is, will some who completes the two year IT Sligo course have the right to call themselves an electrician?

2011

lightnin wrote: »

.... so my question is, will some who completes the two year IT Sligo course have the right to call themselves an electrician?

No because they have will not have the required qualification.
In addition there is nothing in the link that was posted in the OP that suggests that persons that successfully complete the course will be regarded as qualified electricians.

In short to be recognized as a qualified electrician in Ireland an apprenticeship is the only route and this generally takes a minimum of 4 years.

bertie1

Its not a 2 year apprenticeship , they cannot go into the second year without having completed phase 6. To be honest , there are only 3 months to do to finish phase 7 , why would you do it .
If they finished phase 7 and their apprenticeship they already have a level 6.

2011

bertie1 wrote: »

Its not a 2 year apprenticeship , they cannot go into the second year without having completed phase 6. To be honest , there are only 3 months to do to finish phase 7 , why would you do it .
If they finished phase 7 and their apprenticeship they already have a level 6.

Agreed, it is definitely not an apprenticeship.
It would seem to me that this course is aimed at people that have not served any part of an apprenticeship. According to the link the entry requirement is:

Leaving Cert with a minimum of D3 ordinary in five subjects including Mathematics and English or Irish.

It may be aimed at people that plan to use the course as a stepping stone to a degree in electrical engineering.

Personally I would not see the point.

paddymick

Another point is no matter how good or intense the course is there is no substitute for on the job experience IMO.

Most of the stuff an electrician does in his everyday work is stuff he learnt from working out on site or working in finished homes etc,or even things like how to deal with fussy clients or architects or the dreaded interior designer:mad:!
you just cant teach that in a class room.

2011

paddymick wrote: »

Another point is no matter how good or intense the course is there is no substitute for on the job experience IMO.

I would agree. There is only so much that can be learnt in 2 years. In addition 2 college years is much shorter than 2 calendar years.

Most of the stuff an electrician does in his everyday work is stuff he learnt from working out on site or working in finished homes etc,or even things like how to deal with fussy clients or architects or the dreaded interior designer:mad:!
you just cant teach that in a class room.

Also much of the course syllabus is not part of an electrical apprenticeship.

Bruthal

2011 wrote: »

this generally takes a minimum of 4 years.

Thats only the intro. Im a 26th year apprentice now:D

2011

robbie7730 wrote: »

Thats only the intro. Im a 26th year apprentice now:D

....and when I was young all of this was fields :D

Bruthal

2011 wrote: »

....and when I was young all of this was fields :D

Its getting like that. Only off the crutches, and need a cane soon:D

2011

I tried to send you a PM, but your message box is full

Bruthal

2011 wrote: »

I tried to send you a PM, but your message box is full

Yea I cleared a few from it now if you want to try again.

Stoner

I also fail to see where this 2 year structure fits in with an apprenticeship. For a school leaver it has a higher entrance requirement than an apprenticeship, however it's not exactly a difficult amount of points to obtain. So for someone who is good with their hands it's only two 3rd level years, and if you want want to do engineering I don't know how technical this could be if the entry level requirement is five D3s in ordinary level subjects.
If it is a gateway or stepping stone for someone to enter into engineering it could really work, I see that they indicate as much on the site. I'm fairly sure that there are 1 year Post Leaving Certificate Courses (PLC) that would allow someone to enter first year in a Level 7 degree somewhere, so why do two years? I know some fine engineers who didn't obtain the Leaving Certificate points for engineering initially but successfully completed a one year course and gained entrance into first year in a level 7 degree (they needed a distinction though).

However Sligo may offer entrance into second year of one of their degrees so it might work out the same way. From a stand alone perspective, it might be a decent qualification for a job in a multinational like HP or Intel where additional training is possible.

It might be a good option, but I'd have the progress mapped out first. Don't just take the "word" of the college, make sure you can get it in writing that with a certain result you could progress into first or second year of a particular course, you don't want the progression to be reliant on an administrators whim or a conversation with someone working in the college. The last thing you want is for places on a course to be available only if there are places available, i.e you'll get into second year if there is room, otherwise you start in first year, don't be a buffer for a college that wants max bums on seats in all classes/years. It will end up being a year of your life, not theirs.

It looks to be more like a stepping stone for an engineering qualification than towards an apprenticeship. It definitively does not qualify someone for exemptions in a Standards Based Apprenticeship, you will need to do the 4 years for that as advised.

Depending on how you look at things from a positive or negative point of view there is the point that you will get a lot more chances to sit exams for an apprenticeship than you will in a college or university so an apprenticeship can be spread out a bit more, like I said it depends on how you look at things.

That would be my take on it anyway, best of luck with your choice.

eire-kp

To be quite honest it just looks like a way for Sligo IT to make use of their apprentice block due to to the shortage of phase 4 and phase 6 apprentices going through the place now.

The lecturers pictured and the cabinets etc in the pictures are all from that block.

For any one that went there isnt James looing well in his white coat:D:pac:

chrismon

That's James in the picture alright.
Seems like a pointless course.
What job could you get after it?