Getting with the programme


Adopting and adapting an apprenticeship programme from New Zealand has boosted Nova Scotia’s ranks of boatbuilders. Tim Edwards, P. Eng / MRINA, executive director of the Nova Scotia Boatbuilders Association, reflects on the success – and significance – of the scheme


I


t may seem strange that Nova Scotia, situated on the Atlantic coast of Canada, with its over 200-year history


of building fine wooden ships and boats, has only relatively recently established a Boat Builder trade – but this is precisely what has happened. The Nova Scotia Boatbuilders


Association (NSBA) led a visit to New Zealand to see first-hand how its apprenticeship programme worked. Te small group, which included owners of established boatbuilding companies in Nova Scotia, came away impressed with what it saw and was determined to establish a similar programme back home. In 2005, the NSBA struck a licensing


agreement with New Zealand’s (NZ’s) Boating Industry Training Organisation (now called NZ Marine and Composites Industry Training Organisation), allowing use of its apprenticeship model and learning materials in Canada’s Maritimes. At the same time, the government of Nova Scotia designated ‘Boat Builder’ as a trade, which meant that people working in the industry could now get recognition for their boatbuilding skills and experience through receiving a Certificate of Qualification as a Boat Builder – if they satisfied the requirements of the trade.


Competency-based What impressed the Nova Scotians the most about the NZ programme was that


it is a competency-based rather


than time-based apprenticeship. There is a prescribed set of compulsory and elective skills that have to be learnt by the apprentice under the watchful eye of a mentor (usually a Certified Boat Builder). When a particular skill can be


carried out safely and consistently to the satisfaction of the mentor, then the apprentice is signed off on that skill. Te apprentice works his/her way through the compulsory and elective skills until


Alan Nowe (left), a graduate of the NSBA apprenticeship programme, and Joe Dicks (right), the first person n oa Sota to reee hs ertfiate as a S Boat Builder: both work at aluminium boatbuilder ABCO Industries Inc. in Lunenburg, NS


the required number of skills credits has been achieved. Te apprentice keeps all this in a log book which, when complete, is submitted to the NS Apprenticeship Agency to trigger issuing a Certificate of Qualification. The NSBA provides support


to the


apprentice and his/her employer by making regular site visits to check how progress through the programme is being made.


The PLAR path Practitioners who have been working in the boatbuilding industry for at least 10 years, and for whom an apprenticeship programme is not appropriate, can still challenge for Certification as a Boat Builder through a process called Prior Learning Assessment Recognition (PLAR). This is not a written exam (something many boatbuilders find very intimidating) but rather a ‘discussion’ between a Certified Boat Builder and the candidate in the presence of an NSBA staff member. The discussion proceeds through all the compulsory and elective skills


Ship & Boat International November/December 2018


Structured learning process These two approaches for gaining recognition and qualification as a Boat Builder have resulted in 122 people being certified as an NS Boat Builder to date, and there are currently 22 apprentices working their way through the NS Boat Builder Apprenticeship programme. So, why is all this important? Our biggest


challenge right now is to attract young people to work in the boatbuilding industry. We saw early on that offering a structured learning process that leads to recognition by our government is something young people are looking for. Our partnerships with New Zealand’s marine industry and the Nova Scotia government have helped us make this happen in a practical way that, most importantly, makes sense for boatbuilders. SBI


53


required by the trade to assess whether the candidate is indeed competent in carrying them out. Records of this process are then submitted to the NS Apprenticeship Agency to trigger issuing a Certificate of Qualification.


Feature 5


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