NEC training builds IT career path for young, indigenous NT residents

Solutions provider NEC Australia joined the Northern Territory government in kicking off a new IT skills-training course designed to give young and indigenous students a leg up into the information technology sector.

The IT Apprenticeship Hub program is a five-year commitment to education and training that will see students mentored by NEC Australia staff, helping give them marketable skills and guide them to jobs with NEC or within the NT's own ICT industry.

Students will spend 12 months in the program, which will begin next year and look to train up at least 50 work-ready apprentices by the end of 2018. At least half of those will be young indigenous Australians.

NEC will also choose ten candidates for the NT Student Based Apprenticeship and Traineeship (SBAT) program, which will see them registered with Australian Apprenticeships NT to gain skills at NEC's Darwin Service Delivery Centre and gaining higher formal education qualifications through a Certificate II, III or IV in IT at Charles Darwin University.

NEC was recently awarded a $34.6m ICT services contract with the NT Department of Education, which will provide the opportunity for apprentices to serve 15 weeks with NEC field services, 14 weeks on the NEC service desk, and 10 weeks in NEC engineering.

“IT Apprenticeship Hub leverages our role as a major supplier of IT services to the Northern Territory Government to deliver value back to the communities we operate in," NEC Australia managing director Alan Hyde said in a statement.

"The programme is designed not only to deliver direct benefits to participating students, but also to develop a training framework and workplace culture that ensures NEC Australia staff can impart knowledge to apprentices effectively."

A NEC Australia Trainee and Apprenticeship Coordinator (TAC) will manage the initiative; build awareness amongst students, teachers and parents; and foster a participatory workplace culture. – David Braue