DkIT - Meeting the National Need for Apprentices

Never has the need for Craft Apprentices been so highly in demand nationally, so Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) were absolutely delighted to welcome 320 Craft Apprentices across 4 trades, which include Electrical, Plumbing, Motor, and Carpentry onto the campus last week. These students have just started Phase 4 and Phase 6 of the academic theory stages of their apprenticeship.

The Institute has a long, proud, and award-winning history of educating apprentices and has increased its apprentice numbers by a phenomenal 50% since 2018/2019. Gerard Galligan, Head of Section Electrical & Motor Trades said today, ‘I am delighted to see so much positivity and engagement from our new and returning apprentices.  An apprenticeship is a really competitive offering for a young person to enter the workplace and progress their careers. DkIT prides itself in offering school leavers another path to a rewarding career and I want to wish all our new apprentices and teaching staff a great learning-year ahead.’

Apprenticeships start with employers – industry input is vital to ensuring this method of progression is available to young people. To obtain an apprenticeship, you must be recruited by a prospective employer who will register you with SOLAS and only then can the training programme begin.

DkIT offers apprenticeships in Electrical, Motor Mechanics, Plumbing and Carpentry in conjunction with the LMETB - Louth and Meath Education and Training Board.

Apprenticeships are an ‘earning and learning’ route to a qualification. The system of employment-based training and education enables a person to obtain the skills, knowledge and education required to satisfactorily perform the core skills of their chosen trade whilst having the opportunity to earn while they learn. Apprenticeship is the recognised means by which people are trained to become crafts people in Ireland.  Apprenticeships typically take four years to complete, and the qualification is recognised on the National Framework of Qualifications.

This recognition of the apprentice’s qualification allows the fully qualified trades person to progress their education and career. Dundalk Institute of Technology offers multiple part time and full-time courses which allow qualified trades people to progress.  Some examples of these extremely in demand courses include PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers), Electrical Testing and Verification, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electric Vehicle Training (starting Jan 2023), Heat Pump Installer, Construction Management, Architectural Technology, Building Surveying, Building Information Modelling, Building Energy Management, Renewable / Solar / Wind Energy.

For more information check out www.dkit.ie.

320 Craft Apprentices across 4 trades. Electrical, Plumbing, Motor and Carpentry including all their lecturers.