Creating modern training facilities for construction crafts under one roof at the Isle of Man College of Further and Higher Education would see student numbers and the qualifications on offer expand, boosting the industry.
 
That’s the message from Tim Crookall MHK, Minister for Education and Children, who will this month seek Tynwald’s approval to spend the final ?1.4 million of a ?4.9 million capital scheme to improve training facilities in two major areas.
 
Work on a training base for engineering and motor vehicle engineering at the old water treatment works next to the College in Greenfield Road is progressing well after Tynwald gave it the go-ahead in December.
 
The final phase of the scheme would create consolidated construction crafts facilities that meet today’s training needs in the space that engineering students have vacated.
 
Painting and decorating, plumbing, joinery, electrical installation and brickwork apprentices now learn their trades in unsatisfactory facilities spread across several locations, the Minister said. The scheme would bring trainees together, leading to more joined-up learning and allowing the Government to sell off or use the other premises for other purposes.
 
The Minister said that in the current economic climate, it was vital to ensure strong, home-grown construction and engineering sectors. Modern training facilities would ensure the next generation of tradesmen were fully equipped with the skills they need.
 
Improved construction crafts facilities would allow the College to offer greater alternatives to students aged 14+ who were not following a traditional academic route, allow the College to grow courses for those aged 16+ not in education, employment or training (Neet) and expand BTec level three and four courses, the growth of which is currently constrained by lack of space and equipment, said the Minister.
 
‘The new facilities will provide more flexibility and opportunity for staff to develop new skills and enrich the curriculum, expanding training in such areas as renewable energy systems, environmental sustainability and low carbon technologies,’ he said.
 
‘The College is the Island’s exclusive centre for providing national occupational standards and qualifications for construction crafts. The new facilities would greatly enhance the teaching and learning environment and facilitate the curriculum changes of the 21st Century.’
 
The development would be a ‘real-time’ project for construction crafts apprentices at the College,  through involvement with the actual construction works, the Minister said.
 
The principal contractor and mechanical and electrical sub-contractors will, together, have five apprentices working on the project. A technical level trainee quantity surveyor will also be involved in the project, the Minister added.

If Tynwald gives the go-ahead, NK Construction Ltd would start work on 28th July and have the facilities finished by the end of March 2015.

The new engineering building, housed in the former Water and Sewage Authority filter hall, will be named the William Kennish Building, after the Manx inventor and marine engineer who set out early plans for the Panama Canal, which was opened a century ago. It will take in students from September.