The Master Builders Association of the Western Cape (MBAWC) has awarded about R519 000 in bursaries to 21 young people who are employed by MBAWC members as apprentices and have completed their first year of studies.
“The bursaries have been given to individuals who have been recommended by their employers as well as by other institutions,” says MBAWC group skills facilitator Tony Keal.
He adds that the association only provides bursaries for students who have completed their first year of studies, as opposed to students starting their first year, because of the high dropout rate of students in their first year.
The MBAWC’s apprenticeship programme, which was implemented in 2010, has so far seen an intake of 142 matriculants, who have been placed in different MBAWC member companies.
Keal says that the association’s first apprentices, who began in 2010, will qualify next year with the skills and experience they need to become master builders.
Three apprentices, Matthew Volkwyn, Raeez Abrahams and William Jeffree, are among the apprentices who will be qualifying in 2016. Plumb- ing company RMI Plumbing currently employs the three learners while they are studying towards attaining their artisan qualification.