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WOMEN’STEC Brings Girls On Building Sites

WOMEN'STEC welcomes the initiative launched by Ruth Kelly, the Minister for Women, to encourage girls into non-traditional careers such as construction.

Belfast, 25th September 2006 - WOMEN'STEC, the largest quality provider of training for women in non-traditional skills in Northern Ireland welcomes the plans made by the government. In an interview with the Sunday Times on 24th September, Ruth Kelly said she was passionate about giving girls more opportunities to sample non-traditional careers in sectors such as construction. For years WOMEN'STEC has been encouraging teenage girls to think of non-traditional jobs as a valid career option.

Their Girl Power project was developed to challenge equality in the workplace through widening career choices of young women, so as to make major positive impact in reducing job segregation and low wages. It promotes gender equality for career choice and delivers accredited training to 14-16 year old girls in trades such as joinery, electrics, special paint effects and mosaics.

During the last three years, over 300 girls from schools, youth projects and alternative education projects have completed training with the WOMEN'STEC. When doing these courses, the girls have made lamps, picture frames, mirrors, and learned how to do electrical jobs such as wiring plugs or changing ordinary switches to dimmer switches.

The next phase of the project is to work in partnership with the Electrical Training Trust (ETT) in schools to encourage girls to take up an apprenticeship in electrics.

Anne McVicker, Chief Executive of WOMEN'STEC said, "We concur with the comments by Minister Ruth Kelly that it is important to give girls work experience in male-dominated occupations before they made their GCSE choices. We have long recognised the need to open the next generation at an early stage to non-traditional careers". She added, "We are glad to hear from last week's report of the Chartered Institute of Building about a 9% rise in the number of young women entering manual trades, our mission is still on the right track."

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