Despite the difficulties of the past 18 months and the impact this has had on education, Claas has received an exceptionally high level of interest for its Agricultural Apprenticeship scheme as students look to their future and the opportunities a career in agriculture can offer them.
The apprentices of today are the skilled service engineers of tomorrow. To ensure that they are able to keep the wheels of agriculture turning and be able to continue offering the high level of service support that their customers expect, Claas dealers from throughout the north of England, Scotland and Ireland have enrolled 16 new apprentices onto the Claas Agricultural Apprenticeship scheme run at SRUC Barony.
The new 2021 apprentice cohort is one of the largest intakes of students since Claas first introduced the opportunity to train at Barony near Dumfries in 2008. Ahead of starting their course, the new students recently attended an induction day at Barony where they learnt about the College and what they will be learning and doing over the next four years.
Over the first three years of their apprenticeship, the students will attend the Barony campus on a block-release basis, spending a total of 36 weeks at the college. During this time they will be given comprehensive training in the wide range of technical skills a service engineer needs to look after today’s highly advanced agricultural machinery. When not at college, the students will spend time at their sponsoring dealership, where they will be mentored and supported as they put their new-found skills to the test. In addition they will also be invited to the CLAAS Academy at Saxham for specific CLAAS product training, prior to undertaking further advanced technical and industry training in their final fourth year.
The completion of their apprenticeship will, however, be just the start of their training with Claas. Having qualified and working at their Claas UK dealership they will then have access to ongoing training and development, and ultimately the opportunity to move into more specialised or management roles within their dealership or Claas UK.
