Construction World January 2018

‘Paper chasing’ threatens concrete’s reputation The Concrete Institute (TCI) has expressed concern about an increasing trend among professionals to ‘chase paper’ rather than seriously expand their knowledge of concrete.

In most cases these students will fail and not have gained anything substantial from the experience. A few may scrape through, but are then soon found wanting in industry as they will not be able to meaningfully apply the little knowledge they have gained. “There can be no short cuts to becoming a good concrete technologist and that is why the School recommends that the student starts his or her education at the right level and only steps up to the next level when sufficient appropriate experience within the industry has been obtained,” Roxburgh stated. He said the more than 130 000 items in The Concrete Institute’s Information Centre bear testament to how broad the subject of concrete technology is. “Detailed knowledge on a large range of topics is needed by a concrete technologist. Fresh and hardened properties of concrete, aggregates, admixtures, mix design, testing, durability, special mixes and production are just nine topics out of the 59 subjects covered in the Advanced Concrete Technology (ACT) programme presented by the School. This is the level of education these professionals should be aiming for.” The ACT programme is staged over a period of six months and a candidate wishing to be successful would need to have served his time in industry and lecture rooms before attempting the ACT course. Roxburgh urged professionals to avoid taking the short cut to job security through paper chasing which ultimately could ruin their careers or have calamitous effects for their employers. 

John Roxburgh, lecturer at the TCI School of Concrete Technology, says the number of building industry professionals who are now attending classes at the School, merely because their employment on projects require stipulated certification, are increasing. “This trend does not bode well for those in the concrete and related industries as handing over control of concrete matters on a major construction project to relatively unskilled professionals, holding only the minimum certification, could end up in disaster. Retrenchments and overall scarcity of jobs in this industry have resulted in only the most skilled and educated retaining their jobs, or being employed for new projects. As a result, the School of Concrete Technology has noticed many students attending courses purely merely to obtain a certificate rather than expanding their knowledge. Paper chasing for job security is understandable but it could, in the long run, be detrimental to the students’ future and – should calamities occur – also the reputation of the construction industry,” Roxburgh cautions. “The school has always advocated a stepped approach to concrete technology education. The courses are set at five different levels of competency and knowledge. A student should start at an appropriate level to not miss out on important key concepts and practices. Having successfully completed a course, a reasonable amount of time should be given to acquiring appropriate practical experience in industry. In this way, a student will get a holistic concrete technology education which makes him or her much more valuable to industry. “Sadly, we have many candidates insisting on doing courses for which they do not have necessary knowledge or practical experience to successfully complete.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JANUARY 2018