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Motec 2 is only half full
Page 66
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• Motec 2, the £1.8m RT1TB complex at Livingston. Scotland, has started its first autumn session with only half the number of students it was built for.
Only 88 out of 200 residential places were occupied when a party of RHA members were invited to see the facilities for themselves. There is also provision for 150 day students.
Mr Sam Lyne, who came from Motec 1 to be general manager at Livingston. said: "We've got to get people used to sending their employees away for a course. The carrot and stick method which the levy and grant system uses is the worst possible incentive for training. There doesn't seem to be any other way of attracting customers, however."
He added that despite this he was not unhappy with the early response. He said: "It always takes a long time to build up the numbers but it is encouraging that they are so high already. I expect to have filled the
centre by March next year. The road transport industry has built this centre and they should use it. There are a lot who still don't know what we offer. When they come and see the place they realize what we can do."
Mr Tom Wilkie, chairman of the RHA Scottish area, pointed out that the haulage industry did not have a great many mechanics or apprentices who would be able to use the facilities. For driver training the South of Scotland Road Transport Training Centre was adequate.
Mr Robert Sharp, RHA Edinburgh sub-area chairman, thought British industry was not really training conscious. It would take a long time to change this, but he planned to send mechanics from his own company,
To widen its scope Livingston can draw apprentice mechanics from all over Britain, and some have come from as far as Portsmouth and the Orkneys.
According to Mr Charles Gallacher. general secretary of the SMTA, one of the problems is that the bulk of apprentices in Scotland already have training facilities on their doorsteps, particularly in the Centra Belt with its technical colleges. Thus, he said, the appeal of Motec 2 was largely in the country areas, where numbers were smaller.
He added however: "We are encouraging our members to make full use of Motec 2. Many of them grudged the great cost of this place. but haying spent the money we should try to get as much for it as possible."
On the need for training, Mr James Gillam, psv training officer, told the RHA members that driving standards were below par. A lot of drivers who came to take assessors' courses were in need of driving instruction themselves. When it came to the Highway Code, the average score on tht initial test was only 23 per cent —"which is clearly not good enough," said Mr Gillam.