Among copper wire and connectors, conduit and powerpoints, members of a group of pliers-wielding high school students might last week have set their sights on on a career path with spark.
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Working on a series of stud walls put together in a Fyshwick warehouse, the teenagers were given a taste of what becoming an electrician is like.
![From left, Hannah Rose, 13, Marcel Rogers, 16, and Nakita Taylor, 17, on the tools in Fyshwick as part of a school holiday electrical trade program. Picture: Jamila Toderas From left, Hannah Rose, 13, Marcel Rogers, 16, and Nakita Taylor, 17, on the tools in Fyshwick as part of a school holiday electrical trade program. Picture: Jamila Toderas](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc77hcc8cslp28pd9ma0w.jpg/r0_267_5000_3089_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The pre-apprenticeship program, run by the National Electrical and Communications Association with funding from the ACT government, was this year expanded to include young men alongside young women.
Seven female students were part of the cohort of 28 people in the program, which aims to encourage female participation in the traditionally male-dominated trade.
For Hannah Rose, 13, and Nakita Taylor, 17, the course had shown them that an electrical trade was definitely the career path they would choose.
Nakita said she heard about the program through school and it had been a positive experience. "Once I knew, I'm like, 'I've got to do this program'. I learnt so many things and how to do things that I never would have otherwise," she said.
"As soon as I finish school next year, I'm starting an apprenticeship."
Hannah, whose father is an electrician, said pursuing a trade had always been something she had considered and the program had increased her confidence in becoming an apprentice after she finished school.
"I found out through family and I thought I might come along to try something new, something different," she said.
Several female participants from last year's program have started apprenticeships, including with Sydney trains and an electricity grid company.
A high demand for the program - which has a waiting list for the summer school holidays - saw it opened up to schoolboys.
For 15-year-old Lachlan Kennedy, who had been considering starting a school-based apprenticeship, the program had shown an electrical trade was something he enjoyed, but the amount of maths surprised him.
"All the conversions and that, surprised me. Trigonometry in electrical was pretty surprising," he said, conceding he would now pay a bit more attention to maths classes at school.
The National Electrical and Communications Association's training and apprenticeships general manager, Tom Emeleus, said trade careers were starting to lose their stigma after years of career advice focused on university.
"If we are able to engage with a school and have someone in there who understands the offering of a trade and puts it up as a good option, we'll get a lot more applicants," he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a fortnight ago he wanted to see more young people take up trades, despite being criticised for recent cuts to the vocational training sectors.
"I want to see more Australians become plumbers, electricians and bakers than lawyers and consultants. I would like to see more of them going on to become their own boss," Mr Morrison told a press conference.
Last year, the Department of Jobs and Small Business identified a shortage of general electricians in Canberra for the first time in a decade. The department found there were an average of four applicants for every job vacancy and 30 per cent of vacancies were filled.
The department identified labour shortages in all surveyed construction trades, with 0.9 qualified applicants on average for every vacancy.
However, the research identified a 36 per cent increase in apprenticeship commencements in the five years to March 2018, which suggested an increase in the number of workers in coming years.