AA College steps up a gear
Excellent news for aspiring car mechanics as Midrand training institution opens more doors to more students
RECOGNISING the shortage of skilled artisans in the automotive industry, the Automobile Association of South Africa has expanded the premises of its AA Technical College in Midrand to accommodate more students.
Principal Werner Wandrey says the college enrols up to 1 500 students a year.
It has experienced steady growth and is able to attract many new students because it provides excellent training in the automotive sector.
The two new classrooms at the college will be used to teach theory to apprentices.
“Our core business is apprenticeship and learnership training, which typically takes anything from a year up to four years,” Wandrey says.
“We offer specialised courses, customised to industry or client needs, and these vary from a couple of days to a full apprenticeship programme.”
In terms of teaching methods, the college’s theoretical learning is mostly self-study based. However, more difficult concepts and operations get discussed in class, with the aid of presentations and videos.
When this is completed, students go to the workshops, where they get simulation training to help them transfer their theoretical knowledge into practical skills.
These skills are reinforced in the workplace, where the apprentice gets real-life exposure to the field of work he or she is studying.
At present, online learning is not offered, mainly because access to a PC is still a challenge for many students, and so is access to cheap bandwidth.
The AA Technical College aims to keep class sizes small and targeted to maintain a high standard of training.
“We strive to cap the classroom size at about 15 students,” says Wandrey.
“While all employers make efforts to increase the female intake to our industry, these are still few and far between. To our knowledge, less than 5 percent of employees in these fields are female, so there certainly is an opportunity for more women to get involved in the industry.”
Wandrey points out that students who qualify at the AA Technical College are not limited to working in the motor industry. There are many other industries that use similar skills, such as mining, agriculture, construction, transport, the government and the defence force.
“The contribution that skilled artisans can make to the economy is manifold.
“They can be employed by corporates to actively generate money in the case of repair services or they can maintain vehicles to optimum level within corporate vehicle fleets, reducing downtime and maintenance costs.
“Another beneficial contribution may be the SMME sector, where these candidates could either support an employer with their skills or even start small businesses, which in turn would employ others,” he adds.
The government has identified supporting SMMEs as one of the best ways to rapidly reduce unemployment.
“A skilled artisan should always have the ability to generate an income, as long as his or her skill is of sufficient quality for the market to perceive value in it,” Wandrey says.