OKD dedicated to support of education

Skilled miners are a rare commodity in the labour market. OKD has, therefore, been exceptionally active in developing miner education programmes in the region. “Neglect of and lack of interest in technical education is a serious social problem that poses a threat to all industrial companies. We are no exception, either” OKD’s HR director Radim Tabášek admits.

The company has initiated a renaissance of vocational training for miners at the Secondary School of Technology and Services in Karviná, for many decades the traditional source of employees for the entire region’s hard coal industry. And so among the students enjoying this summer vacation there are over 70 future mining electricians and fitters, currently in their first and second year of training.

OKD was delighted to find that there is interest in these study programmes among elementary school pupils and their parents. The company, therefore, decided to form a similar partnership with the Secondary School in Havířov-Šumbark and two groups of potential future miners will begin the school year there in September.

Future mining fitters and electricians receive a CZK 1,000 monthly scholarship from OKD. They undergo practical training in the company’s aboveground facilities and have the opportunity to gain some pocket money in summer temp jobs. Successful students can be sure to have a job guaranteed in OKD for at least three years. “This was the most convincing argument for me. Finding a job in our region is far from easy. Finding a well-paid job is even more difficult. Thanks to OKD, I know that once I leave school I will be able to operate high-tech machinery in a major company and receive a good wage. I think this profession has a great future and potential. Coal mining in the Karviná region is not going to end any time soon,” says Tomáš Siuda who will return after the summer for his final year at school. However, the job contract with OKD does not mean that he will have to start working for the company right away. Given its massive investments in sophisticated technologies, the company is well aware of its need to have highly qualified employees and is, therefore, extending similar support to those who decide to continue their education and get a high-school diploma or even an academic degree from one of the technical programmes offered by the Technical University of Ostrava, the traditional alma mater of mining engineers.

The company’s dedication to technical education has recently borne more fruit in the form of the recently signed agreement with the Karviná secondary school that will result in a graduation-level mining study programme, starting for the first time in the 2012/2013 academic year. “We hope this will bring even more highly-qualified and urgently-needed people,” Tabášek concludes.

Marek Síbrt