AFTER his contract with a construction company ended, Aswad Kamil Abdol Molop decided to sharpen his skills and get proper certification to prep up his resume.

So the 25-year-old former site supervisor enrolled into the Wilayah Tengah Malay-sian Construction Academy for a basic bricklaying, tiling and plastering programme in June.

Into his third month at the academy now, Aswad hopes he can command better wages when he completes the course.

"I heard there are plenty of projects opening up in Penang and Johor."

Aswad, who has had three years on-site experience, said he was familiar with most of the stuff he was learning at the academy.
But Aswad is being taught by instructors who have no more than six months experience on-site; like his plastering instructor, Rosimi Mahmood, 34.

Rosimi has been training construction workers for the past seven years and despite his mere six-month working stint at a construction site, said: "I've gone to IKBN (Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara) for training and I know the goings-on in the industry."

Aswad didn't seem to mind he's got more "real-job" experience than his teachers or that in some instances, they're younger than him -- one of them is only 21 years old.

"When I was working, I mostly supervised and didn't do the work at the site myself.

"So I'm learning to do them now and also the theory part as well, like what ratio is the best for the cement mixture, safety precautions to take and some other stuff that I knew but was not an expert."

Aswad said his course was 70 per cent practical training and 30 per cent theory.

"I don't sit in an air-conditioned room much, although we do work under shelter. But I'm still getting dark," he said as he rolled up his sleeve to show his tan.