Dmytro Prysiazhniuk: becoming a tractor driver through inclusive training
“We live in a village with my wife and children and run our own household, so I have been thinking about becoming a tractor driver for a long time. I was happy to hear there was an opportunity to gain a new profession free of charge because currently I cannot afford to pay for such courses myself,”
says Dmytro Prysiazhniuk, a participant in the Skills for Inclusion project in Vinnytsia
Dmytro is 35 years old. He lives in the Vinnytsia region with his wife and children, manages a household and enjoys working on the land. Since childhood, he has lived with hearing loss: he cannot hear in his right ear and has partial hearing in his left.
Despite this, Dmytro attended a mainstream school. This helped him socialise better, develop his speech and feel more confident around people. Today, he speaks fluently, reads lips and uses sign language.
After school, Dmytro trained as a bricklayer and an electric and gas welder. However, over time, the physical demands of the work began to affect his health because of back problems. That was when he started thinking about retraining.
He learned about the opportunity for free training from his relatives. This is how Dmytro became a participant in the Skills for Inclusivity project and enrolled in the tractor driver-machine operator programme at the State Educational Institution “Hushchyntsi Higher Vocational School”.
Dmytro during practical training
Dmytro studies tractor mechanics so that he can carry out repairs when needed, practises driving, learns how to operate mounted equipment, and develops skills in soil cultivation and sowing technologies.
Training comes easily to Dmytro not only because of his strong interest in the profession, but also thanks to the support of his teachers.
“The teachers take an individual approach to make sure everything is clear to everyone and that each student can practise what we have learned. They are always ready to repeat something if I did not hear it properly. Once, I missed a driving practice session, so later the instructor arranged an individual lesson for me and we completed the training separately,” he shares.
After completing the programme, Dmytro wants to work in his new profession and eventually buy his own tractor. He plans to cultivate his own land and work for a local agricultural enterprise, as there is strong demand for tractor drivers in the region.
“Bread has to be grown in any circumstances. Tractor drivers are never without work these days,” says Dmytro.
Background
The project “Skills for inclusion: workplace training for the activation of vulnerable groups” is implemented by the NGO “Ukrainian Professional Development” with financial support from the European Union, Germany, Poland, Estonia and Denmark within the Multi Donor Initiative Skills4Recovery, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Solidarity Fund PL (SFPL).