TREDU means Tampere educational center. This is a vocational school where they have a huge number of professional educational direction. Educational direction are mechanical technician, logistics technician, carpenter, builder, wall painter, car painter, food producer, they also have a beer brewery, laboratory and chemical technician, mechatronics technician and electrician. They also have car mechanics, a school for pilots and aircraft maintenance technicians, foresters at the branch schools.

Vocational training lasts three years and then they can enroll in further studies at the college. During these three years of high school, they have practical classes four times a week, and once a week they have basic subjects such as mathematics, mother tongue, English and some professional subjects.

Training for a mechanical technician is very interesting, because in the first year you learn 5 different direction of mechanical engineering. These are CNC operator, welder, manual machine operator, plastic product manufacturer and mechanical mechanic. Then you choose one of this that you study in the second and third year, and then you also take the final exam in this educational direction.

The CNC operator works on CNC lathes and milling machines where they manufacture various machine elements and tools. The welder welds with TIG, MIG, MAG, manual stick welding and flame welding of metals. A manual machine operator or metal designer-toolmaker works on classic lathes, milling machines, drills…. It performs similar work as a CNC operator except that the CNC operator works on a computer-controlled machine. The plastic product manufacturer sets up a plastic injection molding machine, makes rubber products and also welds plastic. However, a mechanical mechanic has a similar job as a car mechanic, except that he services compressors, hydraulic pumps, lathes, milling machines and similar machines.

The TREDU school in Tampere is very large, but we went to the branches to see the aviation school and we visited two more branches where they also have a school for mechanical technicians.

I like the Finnish education system much more than the Slovenian one, because they do not learn unnecessary professional theoretical subjects here, but focus more on practical work. Professional theoretical subjects on mechanical engineering are taught more in further study in college.