Five control engineering companies join forces and launch a new post-vocational education program together with Avans+ Building Automation Technician. A special collaboration, says Kees-Jan Jekel-Sweerman, Technical Training Manager at Avans+. He hopes to inspire a new generation of technicians for the sector with this training.
62 percent of companies in the Netherlands experience a shortage of technical personnel. One of the most frequently mentioned causes of this shortage is a poor connection between education and the business community. Educational institutions and the business community point the finger at each other,” says Kees-Jan. “Education says it is not understood by the business community and companies say that training courses do not meet their needs. The only way to break through this is to seek each other out and work together.”
The post-MBO training Technician Building Automation lasts two years and combines four days of work with one day of school. It is an open training and everyone with an interest in building automation is welcome. The participants are taught subjects such as electrical engineering, measurement and control technology and climate technology. In addition, subjects such as project management and maintenance management are on the program. “Building automation is an experiential profession, you have to work in practice for years to master it. With this training we want to give the participants a dose of theory, so that they get a flying start.”
“The idea for the training came from discussions about a customized program with Regel Partners. In those discussions we came to the conclusion that this training is not only a good idea for Regel Partners, but for the entire industry. Ultimately, the goal is to get more new people into the industry and we can only achieve that by working together.” The training is a collaboration between five control engineering companies, but Kees-Jan hopes that more companies will join. “It is an initiative for the entire industry. Together with the five companies, we hope that it will be supported more widely and that more companies will join.”
The participants are going to or are already employed by the participating companies and are all offered the same study contract. This way, they do not compete with each other on employment conditions. “I think it is very special how the companies tackle this together, I have never experienced that before. This training is a textbook example of cooperation between education and business. We would prefer to set up all training courses like this.”
“It is a strict requirement for us to offer a training that the market, the industry and the participants are waiting for. Technology is changing rapidly, which is why we only work with teachers from the field, who are aware of the latest state of the art. In addition, we continuously ask for feedback from the participating companies and the participants.”
Kees-Jan explains that not only the technology and the sector are changing, but also the motivations of the participants have shifted over the years. “When I spoke to participants fifteen years ago and asked about their motivation, the answer was about career and future prospects. Now I hear that they want to understand the technology better, want to design beautiful installations or want to contribute to the energy transition. Another shift is that young technicians want to work more part-time. We see that companies that facilitate this do better in recruiting new staff.”
The post-MBO training Technician Building Automation has been developed in collaboration with Kropman, Kuijpers, Numan & Kant, Regel Partners and Rensen. The training will start on 11 February 2025. Are you interested in participating or do you want to collaborate? Please contact Kees-Jan Jekel-Sweerman or visit the Avans+ website for more information.
Nederlands