Taking the school to the building site

The Skole på byggeplass project, which is organised by Veidekke and financed by NAV, is now into its twelfth year. At the end of January 2010, Conservative Party leader Erna Solberg visited Nydalen School and met both teachers and pupils. The Conservative Party has recently launched a proposal to improve the teaching of vocational subjects, something about which Terje R. Venold, president & CEO of Veidekke is very positive.

“Over the course of the twelve years we have been running Skole på byggeplass, we have educated over a hundred people who have gone on to become apprentices in various companies in the building and construction industry. This is a clear win-win situation, which is good for the building industry, the new skilled workers and society at large,” wrote Terje R. Venold on
his blog Terjes-tanker.no after the visit.

Connected to a project
Education and training in Skole på byggeplass are always linked to a major project. During the course of her visit, Erna Solberg received a thorough introduction into how the programme works in practice and an insight into its social benefits. For many years now, Veidekke has seen the value of educating skilled workers for the industry in collaboration with NAV and others. It is vital to secure the future workforce of the building and construction industry.

The building and construction industry only captures a small percentage of the potential new workers every year, especially in the vocational subjects. An alternative offer is therefore needed by many.

“We believe we have developed precisely this in Skole på byggeplass. It is an excellent way of securing future recruitment, and the project also captures groups we would not easily reach otherwise,” says Venold.