Kia Motors Slovakia has been involved in students’ professional development and technical support expansion of secondary technical schools for several years. Another graduates of practical training who have obtained professional experience in car production throughout the 2009-2010 school year, will leave the factory at the end of June 2010. For this period, 45 students from 6 secondary vocational schools in the Zilina region finish their vocational practice in our plant. The company has provided the educational institutions with 55 vehicles and more than 100 components in the last three years. In June 2010, it will donate 8 cars, a car body and devices to diagnose the electrical features of the car, all used for educational purposes. The students in the professional experience worked directly in the car assembly and developed their skills in the paint shop and the maintenance department of all production halls. Some of them had a unique opportunity to gain experience in the engine production while assembling gasoline and diesel engines as well as operating CNC machines, where the main parts of engines such as a cylinder head, a block and a crank shaft are processed. A total of 177 students have attended the professional practice in Kia Motors Slovakia since 2007, and out of them 13 graduates have been directly employed in the factory.
“I have performed my training in the paint shop on the final line of the painted car bodies. During my vocational practice I gained a lot of new skills and knowledge which is very beneficial for me. Also I liked the clean working environment very much. After my graduation, I would like to get a job in the plant,” Matej Pachula, a student of the Secondary Technical School of St. Jozef Robotnik in Zilina, expresses his enthusiasm. Kia Motors Slovakia has already donated cars as well as their components to Secondary Combined School in Martin. “Donated cars and parts are used as teaching tools in the educational process of various studying courses. One of the tools was signed in the competition called the Secondary Professional Activity and was awarded in the industry category,” says Mgr. Jozef Zanovit, Director of Secondary Combined School in Martin. The company develops cooperation with 32 secondary vocational schools and 4 technical universities in the Slovak Republic, to whom donated a total of 55 cars. In selection, the secondary vocational and industrial schools were preferred. Over the past 4 years engines as well as car bodies, airbags, suspensions, floors and dashboards have been provided to schools. Another active tool used for development of cooperation between the car producer and schools is the possibility for students to visit and view the production process in the factory. More than 11,000 students of Slovak secondary schools and universities have visited the plant since 2007.
