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‘CUC apprenticeship program needs to be accredited’
The apprenticeship program being proposed for the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. needs to be coordinated with the Northern Marianas Technical Institute or the Northern Marianas College in order to produce qualified trades personnel, according to CUC board member David Sablan Jr.
Referring to the minutes of the last CUC board meeting, Sablan wanted to clarify that a true apprenticeship program must be U.S. Department of Labor certified.
“I just wanted to clarify that this is not necessarily the apprenticeship program I was thinking about [when the idea was originally proposed] but it does add toward the development of local workers to take on the various trades within our divisions. I would like [the board] to continue the establishment of a United States Department of Labor certified apprenticeship program,” he said.
He recommended working with an accredited institution such as the Northern Marianas College in order to provide “scholastic training.”
“…You [wouldn’t] want our local tradesmen that are training to take on positions within generation and transmission distribution divisions…to start being journeymen after only a 60-day training or 90-day training. There is a very distinct prescription of apprenticeships and it has to go through the USDOL [to be approved],” he said.
Board chair Adelina Roberto noted that the apprenticeship program is being modeled after the curriculum of the Guam Community College.
The board stated that an MOU is being worked on to bring the existent GCC program to the CNMI before the apprenticeship program can move forward.
