Estonia short on field electricians
A new training facility for electrical grid technicians at Tartu Vocational College could help ease a severe shortage of electricians qualified to work in the field.
There has been no state-level training for electrical grid technicians since 2004. Skills related to electrical grids are currently taught through continuing education courses. However, this does not produce enough new specialists to meet demand driven by upgrades to the power grid, electrification and the construction of new generation capacity.
"Training has been left to employers. It's a huge burden and until now we simply haven't been able to hire a qualified specialist straight out of school," said Riho Laanemets, administrative manager at E-Service.
Until now, Tartu Vocational College has only trained electricians to work on indoor electrical systems, while work on outdoor electrical grids was covered only in theory. This fall, however, the college opened southern Estonia's first training facility for electrical grid technicians where students can actually climb utility poles.
"What does theory give us? We stand next to a pole and look at it and think, wow, that's high. But actually climbing it physically — that's the experience they get here," said Katrin Vaher, a mentor at Tartu Vocational College.
"Looking at it, it seems easy, but in reality it really isn't. You have to lean back a little to give yourself enough room to climb and you also have to take into account that the pole moves and starts to sway," said Bryan, a second-year electrical student.
The training facility could eventually make it possible for students in Tartu to specialize as electrical grid technicians.
"Those who go on to work in the field will already have received sufficient training here. This training facility was established here in southern Estonia and our biggest dream now is to create a competence center for the electrical field here, with the capacity to administer professional qualification exams — in other words, an exam center," Vaher said.
"This facility makes it possible to conduct the Level 4 professional qualification exam. Everything required for the exam can be done here, so this is where future electrical grid technicians can start coming from," Laanemets said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
