By CASEY NEILL
MANUFACTURERS in Melbourne’s south-east need young workers to bolster their ageing workforce, and high youth unemployment continues to trouble the region.
“Those two problems shouldn’t be able to co-exist,” Beacon Foundation’s Duncan McKimm said.
And that’s where the national not-for-profit steps in with Manufacturing XL.
With help from South East Business Networks (SEBN) it brings together businesses and schools to provide pathways into apprenticeships, traineeships and entry-level jobs.
What’s stopping young people entering the field?
Mr McKimm said it’s a lack of awareness of the opportunities available and misconceptions about what a career in the industry involves.
“It’s about design and engineering know-how rather than muscle and dirty welding-bays,” he said.
“When you ask kids ‘what is manufacturing?’ most kids don’t have any idea.”
Beacon’s aim is to inform students so they can make a choice to enter manufacturing.
On 31 October, Hallam Senior College and Keysborough College teachers toured four manufacturers to help them bring business into the classroom.
“How to use the stuff businesses do every day to teach the curriculum,” Mr McKimm said.
They visited Fantech in Dandenong South, Norden in Dandenong, Britannia in Mulgrave and Erntec in Scoresby to help them understand the manufacturing opportunities available to students.
“Teachers can’t know everything about every industry, so it’s our job to help explain and show them what those industries are all about,” Mr McKimm said.
“There’s so much more to a job than a job description.
“The idea of the day was that we’d develop a class with each one of those businesses that they’d then go and deliver before the end of the year.”
These presentations are called ’business blackboards’ and bring manufacturers into the classroom to teach a lesson based around their daily tasks.
From there students can tour the manufacturer, apply for work experience and get guidance on study and job opportunities.
Keysborough Secondary College teacher Peter Green was on the tour.
He said kids regularly asked “what am I going to use this for?” during lessons and he could now give them some examples.
