Ten students will enrol for the new school year. Hands-on training will take place in Laufen’s Bechyně plant that manufactures Jika products. 

A three-year Ceramics Maker and Decorator training programme, that is going to open at the Secondary School of Applied Art in Bechyně starting the next school year, was designed in cooperation with Laufen. The objective of this programme is to train new ceramics experts, able to find job in all phases of production. Successful graduates will be able to choose from jobs offered by Laufen plants. 

Prague, 6 March 2013: Laufen, representing Laufen, Roca and Jika brands on the Czech market, succeeded in initiating a new apprenticeship programme, thanks to the National Register of Vocational Qualifications project, and entering into a sector agreement on the support of ceramics education. 
“We hope that our graduates will become qualified experts that are currently hard to find,” explains Miroslav Hambálek from Laufen, giving reasons for creating this new field of study. 
“Ceramics Maker and Decorator apprenticeship programme is open to all successful primary school leavers; students are not asked to pass any entrance exams or aptitude tests,” says the director of Secondary School of Applied Art in Bechyně, PaedDr. Jiří Novotný. A three-year apprenticeship programme will be completed by obtaining a certificate of apprenticeship. Trainees will learn theory of manufacturing technology, ceramics processing and decorating. Over the course of their hands-on training in the Jika manufacturing plant, trainees will experience production of plaster moulds, preparation of pourable slips, ceramic body forming, glazing, baking, and other essential technologies. 
Besides Laufen plants, successful trainees can find jobs at other manufacturers of ceramic products, e.g. wall and floor tiles, utility ceramics, ceramic electrical insulating materials, etc.