The Visual Connections partnership with Re-Engineering Australia (REA) is introducing school students to the opportunities available in print and graphics careers, with a number of events this month raising the profile of print.
This month REA has participated in events including Visual Impact Sydney, and the Royal Adelaide Show, where its booth saw an average of 5000 students per day over ten days.
Visual Connections sponsors REA, which aims to engage, inspire and educate students, teachers and industry about the career opportunities in engineering and manufacturing fields. According to Peter Harper, general manager at Visual Connections, this partnership is a boon to the printing industry. "Visual Connections' mandate is to raise the awareness of the print, sign and display industries for schools, their students and teachers," he said. "One major way we do this is through Re-Engineering Australia."
Dr Michael Myers OAM, chairman of Re-Engineering Australia, said that according to research, 55 percent of students who go through a program by REA end up interested in taking up a manufacturing career, including print, signage and graphics. "We’re trying to make kids see that there are careers in the print and design that they see all the time – there’s nothing in the school system for that," he said. "They like to make things, and want jobs where they get to do that."
According to Myers, the goal is to get more children connected to the opportunities manufacturing offers. "One issue that every industry faces is explaining their business to children. What we do gives kids a real life application and helps them understand where all these 21st-century skills – print, graphics, signage, engineering, communications – can fit into their career paths."
REA takes its programs to around 35,000 students every year, and has so far connected with 700,000 kids around the country. "We’ve changed a lot of students’ attitudes towards their career options," said Myers.