School Term of Solaris’ Sponsored Class Inaugurated

It is the thirteenth time that Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. inaugurated the new school year of the company-sponsored class, run together with the vocational school Branżowa Szkoła I Stopnia in Murowana Goślina and the Jan Henryk Dąbrowski agricultural school Zespół Szkół Rolniczych in Środa Wielkopolska. At the Bolechowo-based company seat and the welding facility of Solaris in Środa Wielkopolska, students have just started training in two professions: mechatronics technician and locksmith.

In school year 2019/2020, a total of 24 pupils took up training in the sponsored class. 14 of these are first graders at the vocational school in Murowana Goślina, training to become mechatronics technicians, whereas 10 other ones are first graders at the Jan Henryk Dąbrowski Agricultural School in Środa Wielkopolska who now start their locksmith training.

Apart from attending regular classes in school, the pupils who qualified for the programme will participate in practical tutorials directly in the assembly hall of the Solaris factory. This will allow them to gain unique competencies and exceptional, at such a young age, professional experience. Right at the start of the training course, the trainees are awarded status of adolescent workers, and the best performers will be offered a full-time employment contract, thus securing employment with Solaris – just like the seven graduates who have graduated from their three-year sponsored class this year.

“We are proud to say that our Solaris-sponsored class programme has received a lot of positive feedback in those thirteen years and keeps attracting new beneficiaries. As the biggest electric bus manufacturer in Europe – and thus one of the biggest employers in the region – Solaris is well aware how significant vocational training and the obtaining of competencies on the job market right from the start is,” noted EngD Dariusz Michalak, Deputy CEO of Solaris Bus & Coach S.A.

The cooperation of Solaris with the vocational school in Murowana Goślina started in 2007 continues to this day. Since then, over 150 pupils, both male and female, have participated in the sponsored class programme shaping their vocational career. In 2012, the factory in Środa Wielkopolska also joined the programme; pupils are training to work as locksmiths, but also have the possibility to obtain a welding licence. Additionally, this year Solaris has launched cooperation aimed at opening a sponsored class for electronics technicians at the Mikołaj Kopernik School for Communications in Poznań.

The Solaris-sponsored class programme has met with a lot of interest of pupils right from the start. By participating in the programme, young people are given the possibility to methodically explore the tricks of the trade in hands-on vocational training, right inside of a production site, under the care of specialists eager to pass on their know-how and experience regarding electricity, pneumatics and mechanics, among others. Thanks to their presence at the company and the execution of real-life tasks together with seasoned professionals, they have the possibility to learn more about both the product and the organisational culture of a large manufacturing plant, which, in turn, gives the graduates a better head start on the job market.