DkIT Welcomes the Highest Number of Craft Apprentices Ever!
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) are delighted to report the highest number of enrolments ever in their extensive 52-year history of Craft Apprentices in the Institute this year. DkIT has seen over 1000 apprentices register recently in Electrical, Plumbing, Motor Mechanics and Carpentry & Joinery (C&J) with that number likely to increase in the future.
The Institute has a long, proud, and award-winning history of educating apprentices and these recent enrolments has seen DkIT increase its apprentice numbers by a phenomenal 100% since 2018/2019.
Dr Breda Brennan, Head of School of Engineering said today,
‘What a great start to 2023 for DkIT! We are absolutely delighted to welcome all our apprentices and teaching staff to a new academic term. An apprenticeship is a great choice for a young person who wishes to enter the workplace and progress their career while gaining a very valuable qualification, as an alternative to studying full time. DkIT School of Engineering prides itself in offering a range of options leading to rewarding careers and trade apprenticeships are an important component in our suite of offerings.’
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 though the Higher Education system. Some examples of these courses include PLC (Programmable Logic Controllers), Electrical Testing and Verification, Applied Electrical Engineering, Electric Vehicle Training (starting June 2023), Heat Pump Installer, Supply Chain Management, Building Information Modelling, Building Energy Management and Renewable / Solar / Wind Energy. Major awards are available in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Construction Management, Architectural Technology and Building Surveying.
