Thompson Rivers University and School District #73 in Kamloops added another dimension to their relationship today with the unveiling of a state-of-the-art mobile training lab that will help improve access to skills training in the trades for rural and First Nations communities across the interior of British Columbia.

The Thompson Interior Mobile Training Trailer, emblazoned with pictures of trades students, is another element in the ongoing efforts of the school district and the university to create seamless transition opportunities for students to move from secondary to post-secondary education.

“TRU and the School District have been working on this initiative for two years,” said Terry Sullivan, SD# 73 Superintendent of Schools. “With this mobile trades training unit, we will be able to deliver trades education to rural secondary schools where it is vital for the sustainability of rural education, and we expect it to provide greater incentives for our students to stay in school.”

The mobile trades training lab, which cost approximately $1.3 million and took one year to build, is housed in a 53-foot trailer unit that expands into a 1,000 square foot training facility. Designed to be highly flexible, it has the capacity to provide up to 12 training stations for the welding, electrical, plumbing, piping, refrigeration mechanic, heavy duty mechanic and millwright trades.

The mobile lab is now in the process of being fitted out with the equipment needed to provide this broad range of training, and will debut early in the new year with a pilot program in welding.

“Lengthy waitlists for our welding program means certification in Welding Level ‘C’ will be the first program offered in the unit, starting next February 2008 at NorKam Secondary School in Kamloops,” said Ralph Finch, Dean of Trades and Technology at the university. “This first program offering in the mobile lab will include both high school students and adult learners.”

Finch also noted that consultation with industry indicates a significant need for Millwright Level 1 and 2 apprenticeship training. Looking to the future, training demands that will guide planning and destinations of the mobile training lab include the potential need to retrain an estimated 50,000 workers that may be impacted by the pine beetle epidemic currently affecting forests throughout the interior of the province.

For more information please contact:
Greg Howard
SD73 Transitions Advisor
Phone: [250] 374-0679
Email: ghoward@sd73.bc.ca

or

Josh Keller
TRU Director Marketing & Communications
Phone: [250] 828-5008
Email: jkeller@tru.ca