Pre-apprenticeship initiative takes off in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA (KFOR) - As National Apprenticeship week begins, the U.S. Department of Labor declared an initiative to expand its pre-apprenticeship opportunities.
The initiative will allow Job Corps campuses across the U.S. to highlight pre-apprenticeship programs in green energy, health care, information technology and other high-growth industry sectors.
“Pre-apprenticeship programs prepare students with a set of skills and strategies needed to enter and succeed in a Registered Apprenticeship program or industry-relevant job,” explained Job Corps National Director Rachel Torres. “Through this initiative, Job Corps students will spend approximately one year in a pre-apprenticeship program. With the general education, enhanced social skills and hands-on job training they receive, these students will have more career pathways from which to choose.”
Job Corps offers more than 300 pre-apprenticeship programs.
Those programs are part of the following industries:
- Construction
- Advanced Manufacturing
- Renewable Resources & Energy
- Transportation
- Automotive & Machine Repair
There are three Job Corps centers in Oklahoma: Guthrie, Tulsa and Talking Leaves in Tahlequah.
Those three centers offer pre-apprenticeship training in Building Construction Technology, Carpentry, Electrical and Plumbing.
According to a news release, the initiative announced today lines up with the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to broaden Registered Apprenticeship to build equitable pathways to the middle class and connect a diverse workforce to family-supporting, living-wage jobs.
For more information, visit the Job Corps website.